


The New Transfer

by AzureM



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Bodily Explosions, Don't Let Me Fool You, F/M, Late Night Updates, New Author, No Planning, Read At Your Own Mental Risk, Slow Build, Sorry Not Sorry, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-04
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-09-28 08:26:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 58
Words: 44,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10081409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzureM/pseuds/AzureM
Summary: Chamille Branvo has been a for-hire security officer for 2 years, working various office buildings. She gets a call in regards to a transfer request she put in a while ago, and takes the position. Will this warehouse be like any other building she's worked, or will this open her eyes to new dangers that plague the field of work?Short chapters, and may contain things that people do not agree with. Read at your own discretion.





	1. It Was That Time...

**Author's Note:**

> Hey people,  
> This is my first work that I hope to put on AO3, and I'm going for a much different topic than what I usually write about. That's right, it's another FNAF fanfic. Please be patient with me as I'm diving back into the world of writing from a long break. This first chapter is just setting up for it, the prologue as it were.
> 
> Enjoy!

1542…it was 1542 on a Saturday when the phone call came in. She jumped at her loud ringtone cutting through the silence she was used to at work, but immediately laughed at herself for doing so. Glancing up at the security camera focused on her position at her desk, she knew that her boss would see it and joke about it when the weekday came. After her cell phone rang three times, she decided to pick it up.

“Hello, security front desk.” Her voice echoed in the empty front lobby.

“Chamille Branvo?” A new male voice cut through the white noise on the phone.

“Speaking.”

“I’m calling about the request for a transfer that you put in about 8 weeks ago.” She pulled the phone away from her ear and took a look at the caller ID, her scheduling manager.

“Ah, yeah. Were you able to find anything in regards to my parameters?” Rubbing her eyes, Chamille rested her head on her hand, propping it up on the desk that she was stationed at.

“Yes, I was. We actually just acquired this client and it’s close to your home address, as you’ve requested.” A rustling of papers could be heard from the other side of the line, and she took that as a clue to start writing things down. Grabbing a pen and blank piece of paper, she waited for him to continue, “Would you be willing to work at a newly built warehouse? Pay rate is $12.55/hour for 1-9p. You’ll be working with a partner, and only in charge of patrolling the perimeter every so often. I can’t give you more details until you agree.”

A warehouse usually meant a large piece of property, with a well-sized building in the middle of the plot. She had worked offices before, but never worked a warehouse. Chamille remained quiet for a little bit, weighing her options and reviewing her current situation. The pay was much better, and supposedly closer to where she lived. It may not be that bad.

“Yeah, I’ll take it.” She wrote down everything that he had said already, not really asking questions. In this business, you were hired by a client to protect something and were expected to keep your mouth shut about where you worked at.

“Great. You’ll be transferred by next week, possibly Wednesday. The warehouse address is 1519 Underbridge Ln. in Lake Crystalline. Your site manager, Robert Interi, will be expecting you there at 1200 to give you a tour.” The scheduling manager waited for a few moments before taking a light breath, “Also, the client asked me to make sure that you don’t wear any official workwear. That means no shield, no nametag, and no hat. Arrive in civilian clothing, and Robert will give you a keycard.”

“Yes, sir.” She hung up he cellphone after saying farewell, before looking down at her red and black uniform. A shiny silver shield hung on her left breast with her officer number on it, paired by the silvery nametag on her right breast. Thumbing the rim of the stiff hat, Chamille sighed and took it off. She’d grown fond of it during her year at this current location but as with all relocations, she had to turn in the uniform before being transferred. Chamille put the hat back on her head and plowed through the rest of her shift, clocking out as her relief settled in his seat for the night.

Only halfway through her workweek, Chamille had a long way to go before the confirmation call on Tuesday.


	2. A Dead Line Isn't Better Than Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chamille receives the call that she's been waiting for...and it doesn't seem to answer any questions.

Chamille sighed as Tuesday dragged on. Laying on the couch wearing her lazy clothes, she was enjoying her ‘weekend’. Her auburn hair was tied up into a loose ponytail, the fading silver dye on the ends looking like a pale gray color. Her fingers were busying playing with the Xbox 360 controller, gunshots ringing out from the tv, as a sci-fi first person shooter played out in front of her. A black and white tuxedo cat was curled up on her hips, content and purring before a shout sounded from the desk next to the couch.

“What did you lose this time, Kris?” Her hazel eyes never left the tv screen. The man sitting at the desk grunted and turned around from the desktop, glancing at the tv before looking at her. Short dark blond hair meet his brown eyes before blending into a full beard down the sides of his face and chin, mustache curled around his top lip.

“It’s not what I lost, it’s what I lost track of.” He clarified her statement, “Damn Kestrel outran me and warped to safety before I could take it.” Kris turned back to his screen, pressing a few keys and clicking the mouse absentmindedly. It was a habit that Chamille didn’t like, but he did it when he was anxious.

“Safety as in…station, or high sec?”

“High. He wasn’t a war target, so I couldn’t chase. Besides, he didn’t get away with anything…didn’t get far enough in his site.” He stood up and stretched before walking to the kitchen on the other side of the desk. Their 1-bedroom apartment wasn’t cramped, but there wasn’t a lot of room for anything. The living room was practically their video game shrine, complete with all seven of their consoles plugged into the TV. Finishing the level that she was on, Chamille paused the game and saved before looking at the cat laying on her. It was already looking back at her with the attitude ‘I know you want me to move but tough’. Instead, she rubbed it’s head lightly and stayed laying on her side.

“Do you know what time it is?” Chamille asked to the noise in the kitchen.

“WHAT?” came back the reply. She rolled her eyes and asked her question louder.

“DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT…?” Her phone interrupted her as Kris popped his head out of the kitchen, a tray full of frozen fries in his hands. She grabbed it and looked at the caller ID before answering, “This is Chamille.”

“Hey Chamille, it’s your scheduling manager. I just wanted to call you and confirm that you start tomorrow at 1200.” The voice from before stated.  
“Oh, okay. About this location…” She started.

“You can ask Robert any questions you have about the location. You’ll be working with Frederick Georgey as your partner. He will be there for the tour as well. Talk to you later.” The call hung up, leaving Chamille listening to dead air. Kris had moved from the kitchen to the couch, sitting in front of it with a worried look on his face. The tray wasn’t in his hands.

“Kitten, you okay? Was that the call you were expecting?” He asked gently.

“Yeah…but not in a way I was expecting…” Chamille nodded a little bit, putting the phone down on the table in front of the couch, “I start at my new location tomorrow. A warehouse near here.”

“Oh, nice! That’s something that you wanted, right? A closer location?” A smile appeared on Kris’ face.

“Yeah, but this one is fairly new to the area. It’s about a mile away from here, but I’ve heard nothing about it.” Chamille shrugs. Something picked at the back of her head, some signal that something was weird about it, “Want to come with while I drop off my uniforms?”

“Sure.” He kisses her forehead and gets ready to leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) My next update will be 03/08.


	3. Strange Happenings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day before Chamille works, she decides to scope out her new work site. She's met with resistance that she didn't account for...

Punching the address she was given into her car gps, Chamille looked at Kris in the passenger seat of her sedan.

“Since that’s all said and done, wanna check out my new site?”

“I can’t really say no, since you’ve already put it in.” Kris raised an eyebrow at her, looking unimpressed. He shook his head and smiled a little, “It’s alright, let’s go.”

“Sorry…” Chamille bit her bottom lip slightly and brought the car onto the main stretch of highway, driving the hour back to Lake Crystalline. Traffic was light at this time and the tolls were painfully high, but they both managed to entertain themselves with idle chatter on the drive. Turning off at their exit and heading left, the side road they were on quickly changed from pavement to gravel that lead to a fenced off area with concertina wire looping the top of the 8-foot high wire fence.

“Looks more like a prison than a warehouse…” Kris commented on what Chamille was thinking. She pushed her vehicle forward until there was a guardhouse entrance, the entry observed from 2 different cameras. The guard waved for her to slow down as she approached, and Chamille rolled down her window.

“What business do you have here?” The gruff looking man asked. His face was covered in one long scar going from his left temple down the side of his face and ending beneath his mouth. Hardened gray-blue eyes looked right at Chamille before quickly scanning Kris and the rest of her car.

“I’m with Bremont Security Inc. I just wanted to look at the place I’d be working at starting tomorrow.” Chamille showed her PERC card and her driver’s license. They were grabbed from her hand and examined closely by him, taking out a blacklight and passing it over her license.

“Sorry, but no one is allowed on the premises unless they have clearance from the client.” He shook his head and handed back both articles to Chamille. Pursing her lips, she nodded and put them both away.

“Alright. I was not informed of this. I’ll go ahead and turn around, then come back tomorrow for my shift.”

Sliding the gear into reverse, she kept her window open and caught the slight mumbling from the guard, ‘…who wants to see that…’ before pulling out of audible range. Turning around in the driveway, Kris looked back at the building that was visible from their vantage point. The stark gray of the building almost matched the sky as storm clouds began to roll in. There were no windows, and a few doors that he could see. There were cameras everywhere, seemingly on every corner and light.  
“Well…that was interesting.” He sighed, putting a comforting hand on Chamille’s lower thigh near her knee.

“Yeah…Can’t wait to work tomorrow…” She sighed in response, rolling up her window without much thought given to what she overheard the guard say.


	4. It's Not Real, Is It?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chamille arrives to get the tour before her shift, but something doesn't feel right.

Wiping her mouth after a small lunch at a local sandwich place, Chamille sighed and took a large pull from the remainder of her drink to wash everything down. She wasn’t looking forward to the new site, or whoever her client was. Starting her car, she took off her ball-cap with an old heavy frigate with all of its sails unfurled, marked in big letters ‘USS Constitution: OLD IRONSIDES’ and started to drive down the same road that turned into gravel. The building came into view past the wall of oak trees, looming over her car like a behemoth about to receive its lunch.

“Well…let’s get this over with…” Chamille grabbed her hat and put it on to block the sunlight before pulling up to the same guardhouse. There was a different guard on duty, but he had the same attitude as the one from yesterday.

“State your business.”

“Chamille Branvo, starting my shift tour today. I’m with Bremont Security Inc. and I was told that I’m to speak with Robert Interi.” She handed over her PERC card and driver’s license again, waiting patiently as he scanned both IDs.

“Yeah, you’re expected. Go on through, and park in the visitor’s parking lot. Put this in your windshield.” He nodded and handed her a piece of paper with 014598 on it. Chamille slid it in front of her driving console and drive through as the gate raised up, following the signs to visitor’s parking. The parking lot itself was small compared to the warehouse it was attached to, but she saw a loading dock as she turned the corner. Strangely, all of the dock bay doors were chained off as if they didn’t have a use.

“Strange thing #1…” Chamille put a mental note to check the inside near those doors, to see if they were active at all. Parking in the furthest parking spot, she counted 16 cars in the whole parking lot and added another as a vehicle pulled in through the gate. Climbing out of her car, she proceeded to walk towards the main entrance door and signed in at the front desk. The uniformed security officer there was a plump older woman with a smile that could melt ice cubes.

“Hello there, dearie. Who would you be seeing today?” Her voice reminded Chamille of her own grandmother.

“I’m here to see Robert Interi. I have an appointment with him at 1200.” Chamille smiled back and looked past her to the security office. The sight made her almost leap for joy. It was packed with brand new technology, and a wall of monitors that she could barely see through the crack in the door behind the woman. From what she could figure out, the observation area was a completely different room than this security office. The older woman stood up and went to the partially closed door, knocking on it softly.

“Bobbie, your other guest has arrived.” A muffled voice responded to her and she seemed content as she nodded to the unknown person in the room before looking back at Chamille, “He would like you to take a seat while he finishes with some other business.”

Chamille found a seat in the main lobby area, starting to observe the decorations around her. It seemed like a cobble of icons and logos, but they all had one thing in common: All of them were restaurant chains. Some logos had a dancing bear slapped on it while others had a rabbit or a cat smiling at her. The lobby wasn’t the only place where she saw these logos. The security office had a few, and Chamille bit her tongue as she laid eyes on a character she didn’t think she would ever see. Standing in the corner behind the security lady was a cardboard cutout of Freddy Fazbear.


	5. The Fun Is Just Getting Started

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chamille meets her security partner and her boss, but one of them seems to be hiding a secret.

Chamille stared at it blankly until her attention was grabbed by a younger man waving his hand in front of her face, “Hellooo?”

“Ah, sorry. You caught me daydreaming.” She closed her eyes and shook her head a little, trying to clear up any thoughts that distracted her. Looking towards the man, she saw a tall man raising an eyebrow at her and crossing his arms. His hair was a fresh crew cut, keeping the blond hair close to his head and steel gray eyes regarded Chamille as he crossed his arms.

“Scared by the bear, right?” He asked in a deep, husky voice.

“Yeah, kinda. I thought it was a video game. My name is Chamille Branvo, by the way.” She stood up and reached out a hand. The man grabbed it firmly and shook it.

“Frederick Georgey, but you can call me Freddy,” He jabbed a thumb towards the cutout, “just like the bear.”

“Chammy is my nickname.” She let go of the handshake and sat back down, observing the man who was going to be her partner on shift. He appeared to be fresh out of the US Marine boot camp. Tall with a muscular build, she was grateful that he didn’t show it off like the musclehead stereotypes. Rather, Freddy wore a loose shirt that did a very good job of hiding his frame and cargo pants that seemed to be straight from a military surplus store. A quick glance at both of them and she realized that, despite being official security officers, they looked like civilians that just happened to wander in. Her own outfit was made of a dark blue boot cut jeans and a semi-loose black tee-shirt covered by an extra large red plaid long sleeve.

“To answer your earlier thought: yeah, he is from a video game. Five Nights at Freddy’s to be exact. From what I could find about this warehouse, it’s owned by a company in Utah. Seems like they want to recreate that iconic restaurant chain.” Freddy sat next to her, crossing his legs and keeping to himself, his eyes never wandering far from her face. He seemed to have respect, and Chamille didn’t mind that break of a stereotype, either.

“If they want to recreate it, then why the other companies?” She motioned to the blue cat and the gray rabbit that had plastered smiles to their faces.

“I don’t know why they chose those, but they were fan-made games. Those Nights at Rachel’s and Five Nights at Candy’s were the biggest ones. At least, the bigger ones that had animal animatronics.” He looked around at the lobby, “A smarter person would probably walk out once they saw all of this.”

“Too bad this place pays very well.” Chamille chuckled, causing Freddy to stifle a laugh as well.

“I’m glad to see that you two are getting along already.”

A new voice cut through the conversation, drawing their attention away to the speaker. An older gentleman faced both of them, dressed in a security uniform complete with a gun belt. Freddy seemed to tense at the sight, but Chamille stared at it. Was this an armed position? Did she forget to ask other questions about this job? Robert’s head was covered in black hair, almost like it was dyed, and he had a chubby build. He was taller than Chamille, but shorter than Freddy.

“I’m Robert Interi, your site manager. No, this isn’t an armed position and no, you won’t need a uniform.” He turned around and started to walk off, leaving Chamille and Freddy to follow. They’re lead past the front office and into the observation room that Chamille briefly saw, the door opening to reveal a command center that Hollywood boasted about in their spy movies. Monitors filled one wall of the room, several radio chargers hung next to the door. Only 4 chairs were in the area, 2 behind a command console for the cameras and 2 more that were set up on either side of a desk. Robert sat at this desk and waved for both of them to sit. Freddy pulled out the chair for Chamille and stood behind her like a wingman.

“You’re here to monitor and report anything that goes wrong with the warehouse area. We have a facilities team on the clock 24/7 that deals with their own problems. You just need to make sure that nothing out of the ordinary happens on that floor.” He points to the wall of screens, “We’ll go through the rooms, but you’ll have limited access as this place is new and our electrician for the keycard system is still installing it. What you can’t get by keycard, you get into with these.” Robert hefted a large ring of keys onto the desk.

“We will continue to work in these clothes?” Freddy asked suddenly.

“Yes. This is not a uniformed position.” Robert continued as if he expected the interruption, “Take those and we will begin the tour.”

Chamille grabbed them and clipped the carabiner onto her belt. As her fingers touched the cold metal, a sickening feeling washed over her. She felt like she was being watched.


	6. T Minus 5 Minutes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tour of her new workplace is given, and the stomach of the warehouse holds a surprise.

Chamille turned around and looked about the room, her hair standing on end. The only people that she could see were looking at her in a strange way, clearly confused by her action.

“Getting a good view of the command center, Ms. Branvo?” Robert coughed a little. His eyes seemed to look right through her.

“Yes, sir.” was her short reply. Robert stood up and took them both around the room first, explaining each station as he passed. It was a standard set-up, but there were a lot more cameras than a usual warehouse should need. Chamille saw the dock bay doors from earlier, chained up on the inside as well. They seemed to be a one-time use, or they weren’t that reliable. With the size of the warehouse, the budget probably didn’t call for a lot of expensive things…but that didn’t explain the vast amount of cameras.

The command center was a cookie cutter example of larger buildings. The consoles in front of the two chairs were full of knobs and switches, each one keyed to a certain camera. That’s when her scheduling manager’s words hit her ‘You’ll be working with a partner, and only in charge of patrolling the perimeter every so often’, instantly asking Robert about it.

“Robert, I was told by my scheduling manager that I’d only be doing a perimeter patrol at this location. I was not informed of…this.” She waved her hand to the full wall of screens. Robert seemed to stop for a moment and gather his thoughts.

“Yes, but the client has changed their minds about what they’ve hired us on for. You’ll still be doing a patrol every so often, but you’ll now add full building monitoring to that.” He carried on with the tour, “Now, if you’ll follow me.” He opened a door hidden near the monitor wall and waved for them to go through. Freddy pulled ahead and walked in front of Chamille, looking around. They walked into a hallway that split off in multiple directions, “To your right is the warehouse floor, and to your left is the main office area.”

Robert practically pushed them onto the warehouse floor, leading them through 3 doors that had keycard access, looking at his watch. As they all walked through the last door and Robert turned the lights on, they were greeted with something out of fiction. Seemingly hundreds of large boxes were stacked in rows throughout the whole floor, some marked with the Freddy Fazbear Entertainment logo, and others marked with Candy’s Burger & Fries. Hidden behind those boxes were smaller ones that were marked with ‘ASSEMBLY REQUIRED’ and the company logo of DnR.

“It’s like the client is trying to make money off of Scott Cawthon.” Freddy said to no one out loud. Chamille noticed Robert smirk a little at the comment, but didn’t say anything else. He led them back into the hallway and pointed out a few more doors.

“These two are closed due to maintenance, the electricians will be here in a few hours to fix that. These 4 are bathrooms, 2 for men and 2 for women.” He goes back into the command center and points at a few screens, “These are where you’re mainly going to be looking. Each shift has a different area to watch, so you’ll both be in charge of the main entrance, the docks, and the main offices.” Freddy and Chamille exchanged glances.

“Any questions?” Robert asked without turning around.

“Several. The docks are chained up, so what’s the need to keep an eye on them?” Chamille asked first, not really thinking about how to word the question.

“The docks are currently chained due to a lack of a locking mechanism. Once that’s installed, those chains will be removed.” Robert seemed to smile at the question, finally looking at her in the eyes, “Any other questions?”

Chamille moved to answer but Freddy cut in, “No…we do not have any more questions.” She looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, and he made a slight motion with his head to be quiet.

“Good. Now then, your shift begins in 5 minutes.” Robert left the command center and closed the door behind him, leaving Chamille and Freddy alone.

“What was THAT for?!” She put her hands on her hips, eyes locked with Freddy's.

“You were going to get in trouble. When a boss asks if you have questions, especially with that tone of voice, you’re not to mention anything.” Freddy folded his arms, regarding her gently.

“Tone of voice?”

“Spending 18 years in the service, you learn to pick up a few things about certain people. Robert may be our boss, but he’s not keeping us in mind. I don’t like him, and you shouldn’t ask him anything anymore.”

“Why not?”

“You’re my partner and I want you safe.” The comment threw her for a loop. It did make sense from that standpoint, “Now, I suggest that we look at the console and figure out the controls before our shift starts.” He moved towards it and quickly looked at the labels, pushing switches and watching as the cameras started to move around.


	7. The First Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freddy and Chamille tackle their first shift on site.

Freddy was a fast learner and a quick teacher. Chamille didn’t have a chance to mess with the consoles herself, but he kept saying what he was doing and she was able to watch both his hand position and the camera screens. About one minute before their shift started, the lady from the front desk came back into the room with their keycards, containing only their names and a copper wire inside the card itself. Freddy sighed and slipped his into his pocket while Chamille put hers in her breast pocket.

“Sorry.”

She looked at Freddy, who was glancing at her. She raised an eyebrow in confusion as the digital clock turned 1300. His attention focused back onto the screens, eyes hardened as he switched to the main cameras pointed at the docks, the offices, and the entrance.

“What for?” She asked quietly, moving to sit next to him.

“For my brisk attitude earlier. It wasn’t my place to tell you how to do your job…” He didn’t take his eyes off the cameras, “When you go into the military, it never really leaves you.” The words hit Chamille in the chest, reminding her of her step-father. Mikael Aran was an amazing sailor and father-figure, and she loved him as if he was blood-related. Flashes of his military funeral went by in her mind, but she quickly shook her head to clear her thoughts.

“Yeah…” She tried to keep her tone even, but didn’t quite manage it. Freddy didn’t seem to notice, and the first few hours of their shift passed silently until Chamille stood up, grabbing the large set of keys, “I’m heading out for a patrol. I’ll stick by cameras 1-5, 7, and 9.”

“Alright.” 

She strode out and found the front desk empty, everything put away as if the lady was gone for the day. Chamille ducked her head back inside, “Hey, this desk is empty. Want me to leave the door cracked?”

“No, close it. I’ll alert you if I see anything.”

“How?”

“Intercoms. They’re connected to every camera here.” He pulled a small standing microphone close and tapped on it. She heard the tapping coming from the front camera. Grabbing the long flashlight from next to the door, she closed it and went about her route, taking mental notes of camera positions and staying in their line of sight. Chamille checked various rooms that Freddy couldn’t really get a good look from, due to bad lighting. Nothing seemed to stick out to her until she heard the camera intercom click on.

“Chamille, I need you back at the front desk. The electricians are here to install the keypads.”

She nodded to the camera and made her way back to the front desk area, locking the doors behind her. 2 men were standing patiently with toolboxes and a clipboard in their hands.

“Officer Branvo, how can I help you?” Chamille stated clearly and both men looked at her with raised eyebrows.

“We’re here to install the new keycard passes in 2 doors.” One of them, the older looking one, handed his clipboard to her for verification. She quickly checked her memory and the doors that needed repairs matched up.

“Alright, I’ll take you back there.” She led them through the side door and to the doors near the warehouse, taking note of the cameras turning to watch them from 3 different angles. She stayed with them while they worked, not taking her eyes off of them. The younger one seemed to think that she was trying to flirt with him and did what he could to impress her, but was quickly reprimanded by the older one. Three more hours passed and the job went quickly, both doors now secured with keycard passes.

“Thank you for your time, Officer. Sorry we were so boring at conversation.” The older man gave her a smile before dragging the younger one off as she walked them back to the front.

“It’s not a problem. I’m a pretty quiet one.” She closed the door behind them, locking it as it was just after 1900. Chamille groaned loudly as soon as the two electricians were in their car, and she heard Freddy laughing from the command center. Dashing over and opening the door, she sees him holding a hand to his mouth.

“What?” 

“Oh…nothing…Just the fact that…I got to watch those two have the best discussions…” He was trying so hard to not laugh. 

“They weren’t really talking about much. I don’t see what’s so funny.” Chamille crossed her arms after closing the door behind her.

“It wasn’t with their mouths…Their behavior. The young idiot was practically asking you to marry him.” Freddy couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing. Poor guy was alone for three hours with only a video screen to entertain him.

“You’re crazy.” Chamille sighed.

“He was like a soldier who hadn’t seen a woman in years!” Freddy responded.

“He did his job.”

“A job done poorly that the old man had to keep fixing. I feel sorry for him, if that’s his work partner.”

Chamille sat down and put her head on her hands, smiling a little. Maybe it was a little funny that the younger guy became easily distracted from work. Taking a deep breath, she looked back at Freddy.

“Since we only have 2 more hours before we leave, could you teach me how to properly control the cameras? I feel like you’ve been doing all of the leg work.”

“Sure.” The laughs faded and he scooted over to let her take the helm, teaching her what he had learned throughout the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, you'll have your FNAF fun soon.
> 
> Next update 03/15


	8. Cameras and Phones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first night finishes up with another surprise.

The remaining time passed quickly, the digital clock turning to 2059 when there was a knock at the door. Chamille and Freddy had seen 2 people enter using their keycards, and he turned the camera to the command center door, seeing those same two people. Chamille opened it and saw two men dressed in uniform holding out their keycards for her to see.

“Are you our relief?” She guessed at the answer but had to ask anyway.

“Yeah, Mark and Jack. You’re Chamille and Freddy, right?” One of them asked. His nametag was labeled as Jack, and he was about the same height as Chamille. Long black hair was tied into a ponytail and his face was clean shaven.

“Correct. Nothing much happened except two electricians were here to fix some doors by the warehouse.” She filled them in as the two uniformed men stepped into the room.

“Yeah, Bob had told us that would be done. Nothing else out of the ordinary?” The other man, presumably Mark, took Chamille’s seat and fiddled with the cameras to turn them towards different doors. His head was completely bald except for a small red goatee.

“Nothing else.” Freddy responded as he gave Jack his seat, “The shift is yours.”

Chamille was ushered out by Freddy and escorted out of the building to the parking lot. There was a large red pickup truck parked next to her sedan.

“What was that about?” Chamille glanced back at a camera, watching it turn to them as they made their way. Freddy said nothing, but pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down a number. She took it and read what it said, ‘Text me’. Not doing anything else, he climbed into the truck and started it up, driving out of the parking lot. Chamille quickly got the hint, stuffing the piece of paper in her pants pocket.

She followed his example and put some music on, filling the silence with Journey. After she waved the guard gate post good-bye, she headed towards her home and pulled into her assigned parking spot only 5 minutes later. Chamille took out her phone and send a text to the number Freddy wrote down.

‘This is Chamille. You didn’t want to talk in the lot, did you?’ A few minutes passed before he answered.

‘No, the cameras have speakers as well as intercoms. I guess I forgot to mention that to you.’

‘So it’s like a fully automated system. The person behind the camera can hear you and speak to you.’

‘Essentially. Are you at home?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Good. See you tomorrow afternoon.’

Chamille sighed and sent a ‘see you then’ message back, leaving the car and walking towards to apartment complex. Unlocking the door, the tuxedo cat greeted her loudly and Kris was still at the computer playing the same game from before, a heavily damaged and flaming spaceship on his screen.

“Don’t tell me you played that the whole time I was gone…”

“No, I only woke up about an hour ago. I work graveyard shift, still. Hasn’t changed in 6 years.” Kris turned around and smiled at her, “Why don’t you tell me how work went while I repair my hull and armor?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 31 hits and 1 kudos?! Thank you so much, guys!


	9. A Company Worthy

Kris listened to everything that Chamille said, but she didn’t completely divulge all of the information that she had learned. She may be dating him, but didn’t want to get into trouble at this new position.

“So, you’re basically in charge of a warehouse that…houses video game characters.” He turned away from his spaceship that was repairing itself to look at her. She nodded slowly, heading towards their bedroom to change into her house clothes, “Don’t you find that strange? Like, at all?”

“Well, yeah. You’d think that there would be some kind of lawsuit going on from the video game creators towards whoever is making these…things.”

“You’d think.” Chamille couldn’t see him from their bedroom, but assumed that he turned back towards his game. After a short pause, he continued, “So, outside of what happened, do you think you’ll enjoy this position?”

“It’s too soon to say for sure, but mayhaps.”

\----

The night passed slowly, but Chamille was able to find ways to make the time go faster. Waking up from her sleep, Chamille turned off her alarm and checked her phone for any texts from her scheduling manager. Seeing nothing of extreme importance, she dragged herself out of bed and changed into another set of civilian clothes. The snore sounding behind her let her know that Kris was out for the day, since he did have work that night.

Leaning over and kissing his forehead, she brushed some of his hair away from his face. Standing back up, Chamille steeled herself and left the apartment, locking the door behind her and heading to her car. The drive to her new work location went by swiftly, and she saw Freddy’s truck sitting the same spot as it was yesterday. Pulling into an empty spot next to it, she saw him talking on the phone and waited for him to finish his conversation before rolling down her window.

“Hey, Freddy.”

“Good afternoon, Chamille. Mind if we talk a little bit?” He got out of his truck and waited as if to be invited inside her car.

“Oh, sure.” She rolled up the window and unlocked the passenger door for him. Freddy sat inside and pulled out a folder that was tucked under his arm. It wasn’t very thick, but when he opened it, it contained a few photos, “What’s that?”

“I think it’s our warning. I did a little digging last night with my old troop about this place and the various companies that bought it as partners. It seems that what we guessed yesterday was partially correct; this warehouse is being used as a cleaning facility for those animatronics. They’re coming in from Utah, being cleaned here, and shipping back out to Utah.”

“Let me guess: Fazbear Entertainment, right? Like the original game?” Chamille cocked an eyebrow.

“Surprisingly, no. It’s a parent company called ‘A. Cleaners.’. They’ve purchased a few locations in Utah, built these machines, shipping them here for cleaning, and shipping them back for use. They already have permissions from the original owners: Scott Cawthon, Nick ‘Nikson’, and Emil Macko. The original creators had signed a contract that will enable them to have some of the profit, as long as A. Cleaners gets to have a say in what happens to the characters.” Freddy sighed, “That’s all I could dig up currently. There isn’t much news on this story, since the restaurants haven’t officially opened yet and no media outlets have seemed to pick it up.”

Chamille pursed her lips and looked at the photos he provided. She didn’t see any Puppet or purple uniforms in them, just Freddy, Rachel, and Candy along with their various crews set up on stages, various endoskeletons being moved about, and an older woman standing stoically in front of the A. Cleaners’ logo.


	10. A Familiar Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chamille is asked to do a patrol at the start of her shift. What she finds could change everything.

“Who is she?” Chamille pointed to the woman in the picture.

“That’s Charlotte. She’s the CEO and owner of A. Cleaning, and supposedly built some of the prototypes of these animatronics.” Freddy started to put the photos away, “Are we able to continue this after shift? Your place or mine, it doesn’t matter.”

“We can do this at mine. I’ll text my boyfriend to let him know someone’s coming over, but he’s got work tonight.” She was already typing away on the on-screen keyboard, sending a quick message to Kris. Both of them left her car and started to head inside, grabbing their stored keycards and clocking in on time. Entering the command center again, Freddy immediately took over controls from the 1st shift officer and relieved her of duty. The 2 women left the room, casting looks at Freddy and Chamille, and giggling to themselves. Chamille said nothing but closed the door behind them and sat in a huff. Freddy glanced behind him to her, and shook his head.

“This is why I don’t like most women…Don’t think about it too hard. They were probably gossiping about the new recruits.”

“I don’t like most women, either. They’re obnoxious, loud, and butt-in where they aren’t wanted.” Chamille didn’t mean to sound harsh, but she bit out every word like she was disgusted.

“I’m guessing you have experience?”

“High school.”

“Ah. When most humans are going through their hormonal stages. Sounds reasonable.” He nodded and focused back on the cameras, “What the…? Can you go check on room 1254? It looks like something was moving in there.”

Chamille snapped to attention, the bitterness forgotten, “Yeah, I’ll go.” She grabbed the keyring and left through the side door, heading towards the warehouse. She vaguely remembered seeing a room 1254 near there, and came upon it quickly. It was a regular locked door, so she fumbled for the keys and finally found the right one. Opening the door, she turned the light on and muffled a shocked yelp. Sitting in the corner of the room was the limp exoskeleton of Golden Freddy, eyes completely vacant and jaw hanging slack. Taking deep breaths to release the sudden rush of adrenaline, she entered the room and looked around the area, checking behind everything.

“I don’t see anything. Want me to check the suit?” She looked at the camera, expecting an answer. A few moments of silence greeted her ears and she bent down to look into the suit before Freddy answered calmly, “Get out.”

\----

Freddy watched Chamille walk towards the room, his eyes scanning two or three cameras at a time. Whatever was moving in that room was still in there, and it hadn’t made an attempt to leave. He pressed the speaker button on the active camera, and listened in to whatever was moving around. It sounded like static, but not the kind he was used to on the other cameras. This static was living, breathing, and possibly whining. The camera feedback became a little fuzzy as Chamille turned on the light, switching from night vision to unassisted. Freddy saw her jump back as she entered the room, but his mind screamed that he should be looking somewhere else. He looked at every camera for no more than 2 seconds each, trying to find the source that his military-trained mind was certain of. The search came up empty, and he pulled up the camera feed of room 1254 again. His heart stopped.

Staring right at him where Chamille should be was a shadowy figure wearing a mask. The edges of the mask were crisp and clear but the body was fuzzy, as if the camera couldn’t focus on it. Freddy played the games, even did a complete YouTube playlist of all 5 FNAFs. He watched all of the Game Theory’s videos, and even some of Dawko’s. Freddy couldn’t forget that mask.

An ivory mask, with holes cut out for the eyes and a large grinning, toothless mouth, looked directly at him, the white pinpricks in the eyes seemingly staring at him through the camera. The rosy red cheeks and lips had a slight glow to them, and the purple stripes from its eyes to it mouth shimmered like a mirage. The neutral look on the mask burned itself into his mind, ignoring Chamille’s voice coming through the feed.

Freddy felt something like fear creep through his nerves, but it didn't seem to be coming from the Puppet he was seeing. It was from something else in that room. Slamming his hand on the console table, he took a breath and steadied his nerves before warning Chamille as she bent down, appeared out of the Puppet’s body, the fuzzy darkness wrapping around her like smoke.

“Get out.”


	11. It's Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Small info dump

“Get out…!” The second time Freddy spoke snapped her out of her paralysis. Chamille could hear the urgency of his voice and promptly left the room behind, locking it and turning off the light again. Her heart pounded as she quickly made her way back to the command center, fear and adrenaline urging her to go faster. Nearly bursting through the door, her chest was heaving as she finally started to calm down, looking to Freddy for some kind of reassurance.

His eyes were still glued to the screen, recognition heavy in his stare. His left index finger was pressing the speaker button so hard that his first joint was turning white, and his body was frozen in place like a predator waiting for his prey.

“Freddy…Frederick!” Chamille tried to snap him out of whatever state he was in, worried that he would pass out. He stayed silent but his body slowly uncoiled itself from his poised state.

“I saw the Puppet standing where you were in that room.” He cut her off and slowly sat down, putting his hands on his head, taking a deep breath and sighing out the rest of the rush.

“…what…?” She asked in shock, “I didn’t see him. All I saw was the Golden Freddy suit in that room.”

“Is that what made you jump? It was a stationary camera, so I can’t move it from here.” Freddy looked at her with clear eyes. She nodded and took the seat next to him, “Seems like there’s more to this place now…and maybe those games aren’t completely fiction.”

“You mean that it could’ve happened? The Purple Guy, the Phone Guy, everything?” Chamille pulled out her phone and went to the Wikia of the FNAF series, looking at details that the community had pieced together.

“It’s a possibility. I’ll go out on patrols next time, okay? I didn’t think it would happen, but considering everything that we’ve seen until this point…I shouldn’t have been surprised. Are you alright?” Freddy turned to her and gave her a once-over without touching her. There was no damage, she just seemed frightened by his own actions.

“Yeah, I’m alright. Worried more about you, actually. You seemed pretty freaked out when I came in.” She nodded, appreciating his gesture.

“Military didn’t prepare me for that.” He laughed a little, “Or if they did, I missed that class.”

“So, yeah…you’re definitely coming over to explain to me what’s going on.” Chamille jested.

\---

The rest of the 2nd shift passed easily. Freddy did the rest of their patrols, giving Chamille more time to mess with the camera controls and learn what each button did. He answered most of her questions about the console, but couldn’t answer what he didn’t know. They started talking about each other as the evening progressed.

Freddy was happily married with a wife for 8 years, they were planning on kids but found that he was infertile, so they were starting to consider adoption. He had served 2 tours in the US Marines, and put himself into the active reserves afterwards, but always remained in contact with his old fireteam.

Chamille was to-be-engaged with her boyfriend of 6 years, but they didn’t want kids due to their conflicting work schedules. Her ultimate dream was to become a police helicopter pilot, but it was a dream she couldn’t grasp currently due to her weight. She wasn’t obese but she was a little out of shape, a fact she made fun of by calling herself a circle ‘It’s still a shape’.

Their night relief came in, once again Mark and Jack, and they left the building agreeing silently that Freddy was going to follow Chamille to her apartment to finish their discussion.


	12. A Merger Unknown

Freddy followed Chamille to her apartment, his truck following her sedan. She didn’t play any music on the ride home, her mind full of thoughts about what she saw and what he said. It just didn’t make sense. How could video game characters be in reality? She was a little distracted when she pulled into the parking spot, but was snapped out of it by a tap on her window. Freddy stood there and waved when she finally looked at him. She quickly turned off the car and scrambled outside.

“Sorry…”

“Don’t worry. Let’s take this inside.” He motioned for her to go first, and walked a pace behind her. Chamille unlocked the door and was greeted by the tuxedo cat, meowing happily and instantly rubbing itself against her legs when she entered. Freddy followed her inside and closed the door, locking it before taking off his shoes, following her example.

“Need something to drink?” She went into the kitchen after dropping her purse on the dining room table.

“Just some water will be fine. No ice.” Freddy sat down on the couch, and the cat trailed behind him, jumping up and rubbing his arm, “Super friendly cat you have.”

“Concordokken loves anyone who gives her attention. I think she prefers males.” A response came from the kitchen.

“Concor…what?”

“Oh, sorry. Concord-o-ken.” She said it slower, pronouncing it for him as she handed him a glass of cold water.

“Ah. I haven’t heard that term in a while. They still use that?” Freddy smiled as he watched Chamille’s reaction go from happy to shocked.

“You…you play EVE?”

“Yeah, before I did my tours. Haven’t played in years, though. But, we’re not here for a space game.” He cleared his throat. Chamille nodded and turned on her laptop that was sitting on the living room coffee table.

“You’re right. You said that you did research with your troop?” She pulled up Google and searched for the FNAF wikia again.

“Yeah, we found a few things, but the only thing that stood out was A. Cleaners. The CEO wasn’t listed with a last name and my buddy in high places couldn’t find her location, so we have to assume that it’s an alias.” He brought out the folder from before and set it next to the laptop, opening it and pulling out the same photo from before.

“It says here on their website that they’ve been around for a while, about 21 years. They used to work for Chuck E. Cheese’s, and even some Disney World’s across America. The warehouse we’re at seems to be streamlined only for…upcoming restaurants.” Chamille turns the laptop to him. The company seemed legitimate with their large customers, but something still seemed off. They did on-site work as well as off-site, taking various parts back to their service warehouses and fixing them there before sending them back to the parks. There were no complaints against their quality of work, but Chamille felt an itch form at the back of her head, telling her to not mess with it and mind her own business.

“Correct. It was originally under a different name until A. Cleaners merged with it, taking on the parent name.”

“I wonder what the ‘A’ stands for?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus points to those who understand what they're talking about in regards to the space game.
> 
> Next update will be 03/22


	13. Reality Is Stranger Than Fiction

“Afton.”

“You’re kidding…We’ve got a real life Afton, too?!” Chamille put her head in her hands.

“Supposedly, yes. There’s no last name for Charlotte, so let’s put two and two together. A. Cleaners is owned by Charlotte Afton, who may or may not be the daughter of Henry Afton, making her the niece of…”

“William Afton.” She finished his sentence, “Did Scott get paid to write that story? Or did he do it on a whim? Either way, he’s fucking psychic.” Freddy shrugged in response, “So…now that we actually have a name to look up…” Chamille did a general search for the name ‘William Afton’ and found many results leading to Wikipedia articles about the book and the most recent game, FNAF: Sister Location. She pulled up as many as she could.

“I’m guessing you didn’t find anything that would spark an interest.” Freddy leaned over and looked at her screen.

“Possibly, but now we can’t rule anything out. Everything that people thought about the game has to be taken seriously for us. We’re the security officers dealing with it. Oh…” Her eyes widened, “What about Mark and Jack?”

“I think they’ll be okay. The warehouse is a cleaning place. Every animatronic in there was shut down, catalogued, and boxed up. Even the DnR ones were in pieces.” He reassured her. The games happened at a restaurant during the night shift, and there were plenty of precautions that seemed to be in place. The command center couldn’t be accessed without a keycard, so even if an animatronic came to life, all they could do was pound on the door until their power went out, or they became bored.

“It says here that William apparently had a son named Michael, and he was the one that got turned into Purple Guy. Theory-crafting is everywhere with this William guy…Some people say that it’s the same man, others say that it’s father and son, and then there are a few saying that the player is the Purple Guy, considering we don’t see ourselves.” She closed a few tabs, sighing to herself and drinking some water from her glass.

“Give me a moment.” Freddy pulls out his phone and presses a button before a ring tone sounds from his speaker.

It only rings a few times before the other line picks up, “Captain Mayors speaking.” A gruff voice barks out.

“Hey Gunner, it’s me.” Freddy responds, putting the phone on the table.

“…Didn’t I just speak to you yesterday, Banjo?” The voice seemed condescending. Chamille guessed that they were calling each other their call signs from the fire team.

“Yes, sir, you did. I want to introduce you to my work partner. Her name is Chamille.” Freddy motioned for her to speak up.

“Hello, sir. I’m sorry I couldn’t meet you face to face.” She said with respect. A few moments of silence passed before the Captain spoke again.

“Banjo, your wife ain’t gonna like this.” Now Mayors sounded like a scolding parent.

“No…! That’s…Gunner, that’s not it. Chamille and I aren't having an affair. She’s my security officer partner, from work.” Freddy rubbed his face.

“Oh! Well, then. Nice to meet you, Chamille. You can just call me Mayors. Is Banjo giving you a hard time at work?” The voice instantly lightened up and she could hear the smile on his face.

“Not at all, sir. He’s very helpful, and gives me plenty of pointers about what I’m doing.”

“Good. Now, what can I do for you, Banjo? You don’t call me this often. Is it about the issue from yesterday? Actually…do you have a computer handy?”

“Yes and yes. Want to transfer the call to Skype?” Freddy asked, pulling the laptop towards him and logging onto his Skype account.

“Yeah. I’m on base currently, so our connection will be stable.” The voice was cut off from the phone, and a ringtone sang from the laptop almost instantly. Freddy answered it and wiped off the camera.

“Here.” He opened the video option and turned on the built-in camera for the laptop. A man smiled from the computer screen. His head was clean shaven, barely showing the dark brown hair, but bright chocolate eyes looked back at Chamille and Freddy. The digital camo uniform could be seen, but only from the shoulders up.

“So, what can a Captain do for an old friend this time?”


	14. A Little More Info

“Do you remember what I was speaking to you about yesterday?” Freddy pulled a picture from the folder he had, the one of the older woman.

“Yeah, you had wanted me to see if I could find out anything.” Mayors leaned off camera and pulled a manila folder of his own from behind the computer screen, opening it up and digging through it. He took out a few papers that he lowered off-screen before sending an attachment to the Skype call. Freddy quickly opened it and saw a few documents that described the business of A. Cleaners, “There’s not much to find. The company popped out of the ground about 21 – 22 years ago, made a name for themselves with the big dogs of robotics and mechatronics, and have clinched the jobs they offered.”

“No shady past, just a daisy sprout?” Freddy scoured over the documents on the screen. Chamille tried to look over his shoulder, but could only see business vouchers from when they opened to business ledgers that seemed valid.

“Nope, just a daisy sprout.” Mayors shook his head, looking right at Freddy.

“Excuse me…but what does ‘daisy sprout’ mean?” Chamille raised an eyebrow, trying to be a part of the conversation.

“It just means that they popped up on radar and haven’t given a reason to be investigated. Most businesses are like that but some of them are weeds, things that need to be pulled immediately.” Freddy explained and Mayors pulled another picture from the folder.

“This is all I could find separate from the internet. Maybe this would help you guys out with your detective work.” He held it to the camera, filling the laptop’s screen.  
The picture was of good quality and showed an woman and a man shaking hands in front of a building that was looked to be a restaurant. The woman matched the picture of Charlotte, matching the picture that Freddy found, down to the bright blue eyes that never seemed to age. The man next to her stood tall and proud, his medium-length brown hair combed back over his ears. Although it was a picture, Chamille felt like his eyes were staring right at her, a piercing black color that was devoid of happiness.

“This is the only picture of Charlotte’s business partner, taken in front of their first restaurant ‘Freddy Fazbears’. It’s set to open in a few weeks, and has already been cleared by the health department of Hurricane, UT. Their animatronics are set to arrive in a week.” Mayors spoke again after a few moments, taking the picture away and sending another file through the Skype chat.

“How are their promotional ads going?” Freddy opened the file to look at the picture again.

“Booming, from what I can tell. It’s generating a lot of hype and action based on the publicity alone. Anything else I can help you with, Banjo?”

“No, Gunner. That’s all. Tell Valkyrie I said ‘hi’.”

“When don’t I?” Captain Mayors ended the call, leaving Freddy and Chamille alone in the apartment. He sighed and leaned back on the couch, rubbing his eyes.

“Well…we have another clue.” Chamille took another look at the picture of the business partner, trying to take in as many clues as possible. He was a little on the large side, but it was mostly in his chest and belly. The smile he wore almost seemed fake, while at the same time being genuine. There was something about him that put her on edge but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

“Yeah, but without a name, we’ll have to play ‘Guess Who?’ at work. We got some good information, albeit useless at the current time.” Freddy organized his papers and put them back into the folder, sending the digital documents to his own e-mail, “I’ll leave you alone. You see enough of me at work. Tomorrow, however, we start to dig a little bit.”

“Another contact from your fire team?”

“No, just us. I’ll contact them when I absolutely need it, considering they’re all in active duty.”

“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow at work, then.” Chamille escorted Freddy to the door and locked it behind him. Now that she was alone in the apartment, she closed the laptop without looking at the screen. She didn’t want to see the picture again.


	15. A Puzzle Piece Given

The quiet days of work passed uneventfully, but Chamille and Freddy weren’t really able to turn anything up in their mini investigation. Freddy took over the patrols and Chamille was able to better learn the control panel for the cameras, interacting with Freddy while on patrol. The contents in the warehouse didn’t change much, there were missing boxes that had been shipped out and a few more that came in for servicing. Considering that their shift was pretty dead, they guessed that the work was being done in the late evening to early afternoon. At different times, the office space was full of people but it seemed that they were visiting from other cities and just checking up on the animatronics progress.

They had both seen Mark and Jack every night they worked, and started to build a steady communication with them. Mark and Jack were warned about the 3rd shift dangers that could potentially happen, but it was laughed off as superstition and hogwash. The days passed into weeks and the weeks into months, yet nothing dangerous happened at the location. Chamille started to forget the incident of Golden Freddy and the Puppet showing up on camera, but Freddy remained steadfast in his watch.

The online articles that they had found didn’t provide any new information in regards to their client company, and even some glances at the information posted on the main office door couldn’t shed any light.

“Is there a Ms. Chamille Branvo here?” A commanding voice asked into the control center, distracting both Chamille and Freddy from their task. An older woman stood in front of the door with her hands in front of her, resting on a walking cane.

“Yes, I’m Chamille Branvo and this is my partner Frederick Georgey.” She stood up and addressed the speaker, motioning to Freddy at his name.

“Follow me to my office, please.” The woman turned around and started walking away. Chamille looked back at Freddy and worry passed his face for a brief moment, but she shook her head and followed the woman out. The two women went passed the main offices and turned into the locked office from before, the one with the Golden Freddy suit. After settling herself in the chair behind the desk, the older woman waved her hand to the smaller folding chair near the wall.

“My name is Charlotte.”

Chamille’s blood froze. She made no motion to move or blink, but she was panicking on the inside. Sitting in front of her was not the woman from the pictures, she was thinner and a bit younger –looking. Her dark brown hair was striped with some silver, her eyes a sharp green, and her frame held no weakness. The cane was possibly for show. Charlotte surveyed Chamille’s face for any reaction, seemingly scanning every detail that was present.

“Nice to meet you Ms. Charlotte. Am I to guess correctly that you are the client that hired me on?” Chamille swallowed hard, the pictures flooding back into her mind and asking herself what had caused the change between the elder woman in the pictures who was bent over, and the woman who could possibly throw her across the room.

“That would be a correct guess, Ms. Branvo. I looked at your files and found that it was time to do your annual work review.” Charlotte pulled out a thin manila folder with Chamille’s name on it, opening it up to a score sheet of sorts, “It seems like you have been one of our better guards this year, so I will award you accordingly. You’re always on time, and you don’t leave anything out on your daily activity reports.”

“I’m sorry, but shouldn’t my site manager be giving this review?” Chamille bit her tongue and cursed her for not stopping herself from talking. Charlotte smiled at this outburst.

“Normally, yes. Bremont Security Inc. and my company have been re-evaluating our contract conditions, and I’ve found your site manager…lacking. Currently, they are finding someone else for that position, and until then I’ll be here.” She seemed…happy…about this turn of events. Chamille couldn’t put her finger on what emotion Charlotte seemed to be projecting, but she could tell that she wanted it to happen.

“Oh, alright. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Chamille bowed her head a little bit and waited for the other woman to continue.

“There is really nothing else…except the camera feed in this room 11 months ago.” Charlotte’s eyes hardened to jade daggers, and Chamille felt her throat close a little, making it hard to breathe.

“Oh…oh! You’re talking about the feed in regards to me entering the room. Frederick had seen some movement on the camera and I went to check it out. When I opened the door, I was startled by this suit.” Chamille took in a deep breath and pointed to Golden Freddy, where he remained unmoved since that night.

“I see. I apologize that Mr. Fredbear gave you quite the scare. I just wanted to keep him here as company.” Charlotte patted Golden Freddy’s head before turning back to Chamille, “Very well. Your annual review is finished, please return to your post.”

Chamille stood up and said a quick ‘thank you’ before leaving and rushing back to the command center. She sat next to Freddy with a plop and practically slammed her head into the table, groaning loudly.

“We’re in trouble, Freddy…”


	16. Down The Rabbit Hole, Alice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chamille and Freddy pick apart a game piece by piece

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up, readers!
> 
> You're about to dive into my mind.

“What do you mean?” His eyes left the cameras and settled on her face, sandwiched on the table.

“The woman in the pictures isn’t Charlotte…that was.” Chamille’s head didn’t leave the table, but she pointed her finger at the office were the older woman sat. Freddy looked up and saw that the woman was talking to someone off camera, making gestures and laughing.

“So we have a mystery woman, then. Or they’re one and the same. People can lose weight.” He shrugged.

“No, this is a different woman. The person who I just spoke with had silver streaks in brown hair with green eyes. The woman in your pictures has a complete head of gray…and blue eyes.” Chamille looked at him, a light red mark on her forehead, “They must be 2 different people.”

Freddy grew quiet as he looked from Chamille back to the camera in office 1254.The woman, now calling herself Charlotte, looked briefly at the camera and smiled before going back to the conversation that she was having with the other person. He shook his head and his finger hovered above the speaker button for the camera, deciding against it and switching to another screen to continue his sweep.

The silence between the two dragged on for a while, seemingly hours before Chamille broke it.

“What if we’re going about this wrong?” She quietly questioned, “That we’re doing this from the wrong angle?”

“What other angle is there?” Freddy didn’t look at her, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.

“There is the angle that we’re putting too much effort into a plot that’s not there. After all, it’s a coincidence that a reputable company decided to take on 3 large projects. I know that if we go by game mechanics, there are lives on the line at those restaurants…but this isn’t a game. The suit in her office isn’t an exact replica of the Golden Freddy in those games, he’s not torn up nor does it look like he’s going to be used as a springlock or animatronic. Maybe he’s just there to keep Charlotte company, like she said herself.” Chamille let her mind wander, coming to the conclusion that their client wasn’t a huge threat to other people.

“Perhaps, but we will see what happens. Their restaurants opened up about 10 months ago and, as we’ve seen, there have been no casualties reported. All green across the board.” He turned his body towards her and propped his head on hand, the elbow planted on the desk.

“ ‘Reported’ being the keyword there. I feel like we have all of the pieces to this puzzle, but they’re just not sitting right or that we’re missing a piece.”

“What piece would we be missing?”

“William Afton himself, the Purple Guy. According to the majority of the armchair theorists out there, he was the actual one who started the killing spree…before someone unlocked the secret ending to FNAF: Sister Location. Then it became Michael Afton, William’s son, who did all of the killing because of his allusion to being the one in Springtrap. After that clip was shown, the world of FNAF got flipped on its head and now, no one but Scott knows who is really who.” She scratched her head, getting more and more frustrated about the timelines that seem to skip over themselves to form a segmented story.

“I know how you feel.” 

“It’s annoying…okay…I’ve got an idea. Let’s start with the first game and pull what lore we can from it, forgetting the knowledge we currently have about it.” She tapped her two index fingers together.

“That’s a pretty tall order. The first game does stand on its own, but seems to be an allegory about that rampage Nathan Dunlap caused in Colorado. His mental diagnosis in high school showed signs of hypomania, but there was no mention of treatment beyond high school.”

“Okay, and hypomania could be a indicator of…”

“Bipolar disorder!” They both proclaimed at the same time, Freddy picking up clues as Chamille voiced her concern.

“So let’s start there, with bipolar disorder. Let’s assume type I, since type II is harder to indentify without prior medical knowledge. Given the fact that if we remove the supernatural aspect of the game, we’re left with animatronics that seek out humans to interact with, a moderator who we never see that leaves voicemails telling us exactly what we need to hear, and a security guard that has no voice or profile that’s exposed to the view of the player.” Freddy took over, his gaming experience kicking in, “Since we’ve removed the supernatural aspect, we’re left with a puzzling game that doesn’t really make sense since our character is perfectly healthy and mentally stable. Adding in the bipolar I disorder, it starts adding up.”

Chamille kept quiet and let him continue on his tangent, glad that he was building on their thoughts.

“The messages are clearly voicemails from someone that’s been in the business for a while, or has been within the training department for a bit. It’s his dialogue that is interesting. From the night the player starts, Freddy Fazbear’s has been in business for 20 years, but the building and animatronics have never been cared for, seemingly.” He pulls up a drawing of the building blueprint on his phone, showing it to Chamille, “Now, I’ve never noticed this before…but if this building’s been open for 20 years, where’s the main door?”

Chamille scoured the picture, not finding any kind of entrance to the place nor any camera that is pointed at it…considering that’s a hot zone for activity, “I can’t find one.”

“Which seems to feed the ‘nightmare’ situation MatPat was describing…or our mental instability theory. It could be both for all we know. The second question that comes from the first night in the game spawns from the supposed ‘Bite of ‘87’, which would’ve happen at that same restaurant since it’s been open for 20 years. The only comment we had on it was ‘It's amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, you know?’ from Phone Guy. The keyword was ‘without’ in that sentence. It wasn’t a partial removal, or piercing damage. ‘The human body can live without the frontal lobe’, which is medically true…but only if you twist the definition of the term ‘live’.” He handed her his phone again and changed to a different page that he found. She looked at the article from a certified neuroscientist in regards to the whole frontal lobe being removed from the brain, but that would cause the patient to live in a constant state of paralysis with the senses being fully functional and aware, like ALS with Stephen Hawking.

“Whoa…but the Phone Guy just breezes over this near-fatal injury like it’s nothing, and our character doesn’t seem to react at all!” Chamille hands it back after reading the article. Freddy looks at her in shock, derailed for a moment.

“…because we do play as the victim…I know this is a different tangent, but think about it with just the knowledge of the first game. We can’t move our body, just our head but only to a certain degree. The bipolar I disorder may be wrong, but this has more substance to it. It’s not just a dream about a killer getting done in by his victims, it’s a nightmare that our character is stuck in because of the bite.”

Chamille hit the brakes on that thought, “Wait…what evidence do we have, and how does this connect with our earlier thoughts of FNAF with our current situation?” 

The question stopped Freddy for a moment, gathering his thoughts and reeling in his theories, “Let’s look at the other voicemails Phone Guy leaves to see if we can find anything that support our mental instability theory.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no regrets. I'm taking us deep into psychology, and you're going to learn from it!


	17. The Cliff At The End of The River

Freddy and Chamille split their following shifts into 2 parts; while one would watch the cameras and do their job, the other would be screening the phone calls left by Phone Guy on FNAF. Chamille listened intently to her right headphone piece and read along with the script that was available online. After she was finished with reading the first night’s call, she would hand it off to Freddy and take over on the cameras. As she passed him the left earbud, she laughed internally about how she never thought she would be doing this at work.

“There…” Freddy paused the audio and scrolled back a little bit, “On night 4…I thought it was odd. I may be overanalyzing here, but the banging on the 4th night…doesn’t seem to be coming from the phone.”

“I thought we were looking for clues about our mental instability theory.” Chamille raised an eyebrow.

“We are, but it’s a striking thing that stands out. Compared to the filtered voice coming from the phone, the banging sounds seem to be coming right next to us, or in a room near the security room.” Freddy shook his head, “Like Phone Guy is still alive at that point. Anyway, I’ll continue to FNAF2’s recordings to see if there’s anything there. Are you alright with watching the cameras some more?”

“Sure. There isn’t much going on, so it’s not a bother.”

“Hold up…about these recordings. Freddy Fazbear’s in FNAF has been open for 20 years, and they never had proper training tapes for the night watch? Granted, Freddy Fazbear company has been around for 20 years, not the restaurant probably…but it’s still a brain-tickler.”

Time passed slowly and they both shifted spots, but came up with nothing. Frustrated, Chamille looks through everything that they’ve been through and sees the same conclusions.

“We’re looking for something that isn’t there.” She finally huffed, “It was a good theory…but that’s it, just a hypothesis with no evidence to back it up.”

“We’ll figure something out. I mean, Scott apparently likes to make us think in regards to his games. There are clues, but they may be too obvious right now. Let’s drop it until tomorrow.” Freddy smiles and looks at her as the digital clock turns 2100. Mark and Jack walk in, Freddy briefs them on their patrols and findings for the warehouse, and then Chamille and Freddy leave the building, “Text me when you get home.”

“Okay.” Chamille drops into her car and turns on some music on her Pandora app. ‘The Puppet Song’ started playing, and she rolled her eyes, raising her hand to push the skip button but stopping just before she touched it. As she listened, the lyrics clicked something in her mind. She immediately called Freddy, pausing the song.

“Hello?”

“Freddy, we’re starting with the wrong game!” Chamille practically shouted at the phone.

“Aah! Hi! Nice to talk to you, too!” Freddy’s loud reply played through the car’s Bluetooth, “What do you mean the wrong game?”

“I don’t know how I can be more clear. We’ve ignored what we saw…or what you saw, on that camera in office 1254!” She turned back and watched his truck practically stop right after the gate. Smirking, she knew she hit it on the head.

“The Puppet…Yeah, you’re right. Listen. Get home and then call me. We’ll talk about this there.” The truck started moving again and turned away, heading towards the highway.

“Alright. Text you then.” She ended the call, and ‘The Puppet Song’ resumed from its paused state. Quickly heading home after picking up some dinner, she sent Freddy the text that he was waiting for and got a reply quickly saying that he had arrived home as well, just needed to take care of his wife and then he’d call.

Eating her chicken sandwich dinner in the apartment, Chamille pulled up YouTube and played the song again, listening more carefully to the lyrics and bringing up the schematics of the FNAF 2 map, waiting for his call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update will be 03/29


	18. Left Alone

Her phone rang a few minutes later and Chamille instantly picked it up, answering the call.  
“Hello?”  
“Hey, Chamille. It’s Freddy. Listen, I’ve got an emergency with my wife. She’s having stomach pains and needs to go to the ER. I don’t think I’ll be able to talk about this stuff tonight, nor will I be at work tomorrow.” His voice sounded panicked.

“Oh, okay. Drive safe. I hope it’s nothing serious.” She nodded and hung up the phone, the silence of the quiet apartment settling around her. Looking at the laptop, she slowly exhaled and closed the open tabs, turning off the laptop and settling into the bed. Kris was at work for mandatory overtime, but tonight felt different than the other nights alone. She felt unsafe, and could swear someone was watching her from somewhere. Turning the light off, she wrapped herself up in the sheets and tried to fall asleep, the itch in the back of her head returning.

\---

Returning to work for the last day of the week, she sighed and looked at the empty parking spot next to hers. Yes, she was sad that Freddy wouldn’t be there because she was looking forward to theory-craft with him, but shook her head. She would be working with a flex officer, and she had to be on top of everything that happened at work. Freddy wouldn’t be there to help.

Making herself comfortable in the command center, the front door opened to reveal an man dressed in civilian clothing. He wasn’t much to look at; he was slightly skinnier than Chamille, wore black jeans with a long sleeve v-neck red shirt, and had hair just long enough to be pulled back into a little ponytail. Clean-shaven, his grayish green eyes looked about the room and settled on her. The way his smile crept onto his face put Chamille on edge.

“Hello there. I’m David, covering for Frederick today.” He took a hand out of his jean pocket, wiped the sweat off on his shirt, and offered it for a shake. Chamille gave him a firm one, and quickly retreated to her seat in front of the camera controls, “First time here. Is this a hard job?”

“Not really. The busiest hours are during the first shift, but we sometimes get people leaving from their meetings.” Chamille motioned to the seat near her. It wasn’t close enough within grasping range, but it wasn’t on the other side of the room, “I won’t have you do much, just a patrol or two.”

“Alright, that sounds good. Let me know when you want me to go, Boss.” The title slipped from his tongue and hit her ear like a wet sponge. She refrained from shuddering and held in a groan of discomfort, but pulled out her phone and kept it near her. Chamille didn’t like this guy at all, he reeked of ‘nope’ no matter what he did. David seemed to catch on and refrained from speaking to her, keeping to himself and his phone. At times during the shift, he would chuckle to himself and turn the phone towards her, showing a random hand-drawn comic on the screen. She couldn’t read what it said, but his laughter was similar to a finger running up her spine.

“Freddy…If I die from this guy, I’m haunting your ass…” She mutters to herself during one of David’s laughting fits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much, guys, for all of the comments! \o/  
> 18 chapters strong with much more to go.


	19. It's Own Little Problems

The shift passed much slower than normal, with David laughing to himself in the back of the room and Chamille trying to focus on doing her job correctly. She had started texting Freddy a little bit but after a while, he stopped responding. The last thing he told her was that his wife was admitted into the hospital for an appendectomy, so he would probably take of their next work day. Chamille responded that the flex officer she was paired up with gave her a bad vibe, sent him a picture taken secretly and his name. After sending those, Chamille sent a quick text saying that she was sorry to bring up the FNAF stuff when his wife was going to be in surgery.

David put his phone away and walked up to the wall of camera screens, putting his hands on his hips and looking at each one as the cameras swiveled on auto-pilot. She didn’t say anything but only watched, feeling that Freddy would drill her about whatever his relief did while in her presence.

“It’s amazing how far technology has come, wouldn’t you agree, Chamille?” His voice had grown sterner, his back straighter. David’s posture had turned from a giddy child to that of a confident man. The change made Chamille stutter a little before regaining her composure.

“Y-yeah, it is. This may make me sound old, but I remember when 2GB on a flashdrive was a lot of room to work with. Now, you can buy a 1TB flashdrive.”

“These kinds of security cameras have come a long way, as well.” He waved a hand to the screens.

“Oh, I’m not that knowledgeable on that. They seem to be pretty advanced, but I couldn’t tell you how advanced they are compared to previous generations.” She scratched her head a little, the itch coming back slowly.

“I’m not completely well-versed in it as well, but I can tell you that when I used to do security in the 1980s, the cameras weren’t as high quality as these. CCTV was just starting to pick up due to the rise in crime, and so it was seen as a cheaper venue compared to making larger police stations.” David put a hand over the bottom of his face, still facing away from Chamille.

“It does seem to work…” She trailed off, her eyes glancing down at her phone. There was still no response from Freddy.

“…” David turned his upper body around towards her, leaning back a little to look right at her, “Yes, it’s a good thing, isn’t it?” The glow of the screens behind him framed his outline, and gave Chamille all kinds of bad indications. She didn’t respond to his question, leaving it hanging in the air before breaking eye contact with him and looking back at her phone.

‘Listen, contact Charlotte is you feel uncomfortable around him. She can probably find another flex officer for Wednesday.’ Freddy’s reply had come in a few minutes ago.

‘I will…’

David didn’t stop looking at her, his steel-green eyes holding her gaze like a predator studying his prey. Suddenly, she stood up with both hands on the desk in front of her.

“Listen, I don’t know if people have told you this before…but I don’t like you staring at me like a prize to be won.” She bit out the words, letting her anxiety fall from her lips like water.

“Yes, I’ve been told.” He fully turned around and stood right in front of the desk, blocking her view of the camera screens.

“So, stop.” She glared at him, not wanting to blink.

“…” He remained silent and slowly leaning down onto the table, getting to eye level, “You’re very interesting, Chamille. You’re not like the other female security guards that I’ve worked with. You have a mind that’s…always thinking.”

The words clung to her mind like glue. She could swear that she heard them from somewhere else, but couldn’t place where from. David let out a small sigh before standing up and making his way over to the corner, pulling out his phone and laughing to himself again. Chamille was frozen in place, watching as his eyes somehow change while he stood up, and then it hit her like a freight train, ‘One more thing - don't forget the music box. I'll be honest, I never liked that puppet thing. It was always...thinking, and it can go anywhere...’


	20. Good Feelings Gone

“Freddy…please pick up the phone…!” Chamille mumbled to no one as she sat in her car, the awkward shift finally over. It rang a few more times before there was a click on the other line.

“…Hello…?” He sounded tired.

“Freddy, it’s Chamille. Sorry for calling, but I’m being selfish for once.” Guilt hit her like a wrecking ball, knowing that she was about to ask for something he couldn’t do.

“Why, what’s up?”

“Is there any way you can come in to work Wednesday? I really didn’t like the flex they sent to cover your shift and I have a feeling that they’ll send him again on Wednesday…”

“Chammie, we’ve talked about this. Go to Charlotte if you’re not feeling comfortable. I won’t be in because I need to take care of the house while my wife recovers.” He sighed, and she could feel regret heaping itself onto her guilt.

“It’s not just that…This guy, David, sounds like he knows what we’re doing…what I’m doing…”

“So, he’s a creep.”

“It’s not just that, Freddy. I can’t really describe it…” Chamille trailed off, her mind shutting down, “You know what…forget it. I’ll leave you to focus on your wife.”

“Hey, I don’t like that tone…Chamille, what’s going on?” Freddy kept her on the line, his voice growing more stern.

“It’s nothing big. I’m being rude to you, and you’re dealing with real life issues. I shouldn’t be bothering you when you need to focus on your Mrs.”

“Now, hold on a moment. I can hear that tone, and the words don’t line up with it. Chamille, you’re upset. What’s going on?” For some reason, she couldn’t hang up on the guy.

“…I think David is going to kill me.” After a few moments of silence, Chamille finally spoke. Her voice was quiet as if she was going to be listened on. Freddy was speechless and she waited for a response.

\---

“Chamille, you’re upset. What’s going on?” Freddy held his wife’s hand, who was sleeping as peacefully as someone could in the hospital bed. He strained to hear what was being said on the other line, but couldn’t make anything out until she practically whispered.

“…I think David is going to kill me.”

He froze. Was this David guy that much of a threat to Chamille? He saw the picture that she sent, but it just seemed like a guy who was on his phone the whole shift. Something must’ve happened that put her on edge, Freddy guessed. He looked back at his wife, only to see her looking right at him with a kind smile, despite the pain he knew she was in. He pulled the phone away from his ear for a little bit.

“If it’s work, you can go. Don’t let me distract you from doing your job.” Despite the pain meds in her system, her voice still sounded like birdsong to him.

“Babe, no. I don’t want to leave you here by yourself.”

“I’m not by myself. I’ve got a nice looking nurse, and a handsome looking security guard down the hall.” She stuck her tongue out playfully. Freddy chuckled as he kissed her cheek, glad to see that her happy streak wasn’t dampened. Amy had always managed to see the best in every situation, even if it made Freddy a little defensive. She wasn’t a playgirl by any means, but most women had the fantasy of being doted on and surrounded by beautiful men.

“This is why we don’t go out often.” He put the phone back up to his ear, “Chamille, I’ll be there on Wednesday. Wife gave me permission.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the later update. I had something come up at work and I wasn't at my usual computer until just now. Love you all!


	21. A Touch of Heat

Chamille spent her Monday and Tuesday staying in bed, the look of interest on David’s face nearly haunting her every time she closed her eyes. She knew she wouldn’t be seeing him on Wednesday when she got back to work, but she couldn’t help it. Kris had tried to help her, but he worked both Monday and Tuesday nights and couldn’t call them off.

Chamille’s phone vibrated on her bedside table, and she willed her head to look at it but only saw an unknown number. She instantly ignored it, wrapping herself back up in the comforter.

\---

Freddy was waiting for her when she pulled into the parking lot, his truck’s windows rolled down and calmly sipping a hot drink. Chamille pulled her sedan next to it like usual, now feeling that his truck was like a shield against whatever was on the other side. He got out of it and knocked on her passenger door, leaning down to look at her through the open window. She felt like a mess on the inside, her image of David becoming more and more demonic as time went on.

“Hey, I got you a drink. I thought you could use it.” He handed her a cup of sweet smelling hot liquid. Chamille slowly took a sip and was instantly thankful, vanilla chai tea, “Did I guess right?”

“Yeah…” She unlocked the doors and he climbed into the seat next to her, drinking his own cup of joe.

“So, we have 10 minutes before we need to walk in. I’d rather talk in the privacy of a car than a monitored office space. What happened?” He turned his body to face her, his eyes never leaving her face.

“I don’t know where to start. He was laughing at his phone periodically throughout the shift, except for this one time.” She took a long swig, almost burning her tongue, “He went up to the screens and seemed to turn into a different person, someone methodical and planning.”

“Is that when he put you on edge?”

“No, that feeling was there the entire shift. I think my nerves were shot afterwards.” The more she thought about the situation, the less demonic David became until he was as she remembered, “He seemed to be in control of himself, and he talked about technology advancing throughout the years…especially security cameras.”

Freddy remained silent and let her speak.

“After he made that comment, he just turned his torso and looked at me, just fucking staring! I told him to stop, and he came closer, commenting that he liked my mind and said that I was always thinking.” Chamille closed her eyes and downed the rest of the hot chai tea, not caring about the residual heat down her throat.

“Is that what essentially set you off?”

“The way he said it. It reminded me of the Phone Guy talking about the Puppet, that it was always thinking. That’s why I think he knows about what we’re doing.” Chamille sighed and put the cup into the plastic trash bag behind her on the floor. Freddy looked lost in thought a little bit before briefly patting her shoulder.

“I still think you should talk to Charlotte about this, but I’m here today. You won’t have to deal with him.”


	22. He's Outside The Door

Their shift passed quietly, with Freddy taking over most of their duties while Chamille unwound in the back desk. She needed his presence, it was comforting to her somehow, like a little sister near her big brother. He didn’t check on her much, just occasional looks to make sure that she was alright.

\---

Freddy was worried about Chamille, considering the one day he was off that she was essentially traumatized by his temporary replacement. Thankfully, Amy had made a quick enough recovery in the hospital that he was able to bring her home tonight, so he wasn’t too distracted about that. What bothered him the most was why Chamille wouldn’t go to Charlotte.

Charlotte was in the office today, talking to her Fredbear like usual. He had listened in on a few conversations, but they were like everyday conversations you’d have with your best friend: the weather outside, the next doctor’s appointment, possibly finding a nice male friend to be with. She didn’t seem at all like a businesswoman, but he had no experience with that. Even his female squadmates were innocent until a fight was called; a shiver ran down his spine, remembering Valkyrie (Alice Mortif was her real name) and Gunner getting into a fist brawl. No one could pull him away from her before Gunner was knocked out. He proposed when he woke up.  
Glancing back at Chamille showed her looking down at her phone, leaning heavily on the desk with a sad look on her face…or maybe it was a bored look. Turning towards the cameras again, he saw someone standing by the front door, knocking on it. It was David.

\---

“Chammie, stay here.” Freddy got up and went towards the door leading to the front reception area. Chamille snapped her head up at her nickname.

“O…kay?” She moved towards the control panel and took his place, looking at the various cameras before settling on the screen showing the front door.

\---

Freddy opened the front door and looked at David, not impressed with how he looked. David’s hair was down today, his darker brown hair around his shoulders, and still clean-shaven. Although Freddy was standing at his full height of 6’2”, David didn’t seem intimidated at his guessed height of 5’10”. Both of their grayish eyes met and hardened.

“Yes?” Freddy finally spoke, breaking the silence but not the tension.

“I’m here to see Ms. Charlotte A. She’s this current site’s manager, correct?” David’s lips broke into a smile, his tone seemingly pleasant.

“That’s correct. Does she know you’re arriving?”

“Yes, she does. She was the one who called me here, after all.” He shrugged, his thin shoulders almost skeletal. 

“Alright. I’ll escort you back to her office.” Freddy took a few steps back and let him in, watching David closely. David made no move to look anywhere except the hallway where the main offices were, and waited patiently while Freddy unlocked the hallway. Knocking quietly on the office door, Freddy heard a ‘come in’ from Charlotte and opened the door.

“David, flex officer, to see you, ma’am.”

“Very well. I’ll call you if needed, Frederick.” Charlotte dismissed him, and David walked inside before closing the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update will be on 04/05


	23. The Second Night

Freddy took over the controls from Chamille when he came back to the command center, not saying much to her.

“Hey…you okay?” Chamille leaned over and looked at him from the next seat.

“Yeah. Sorry, I’m just thinking about a few things that you said in regards to David.”

“I saw that he was there. What did he say?”

“He says that he was here on Charlotte’s request.”

The room fell silent for a while as Chamille looked towards the camera screens on the wall, watching the warehouse and the offices. She stood up and grabbed the key ring.

“I’m going for a short patrol…I just need to think.” She commented before closing the door behind her. Making her way towards the partially empty warehouse, she passes office 1254 but doesn’t bother listening in. If she was curious about it, she could ask Freddy to watch and listen in. Unlocking the warehouse door with her keycard, Chamille walked into the harsh silence of the warehouse and took in the now familiar scene. The dock doors were repaired from their previous broken locks, thanks to a semi trailer crushing the mechanism, and the contents in the warehouse were filtering in and out every day.

There were new boxes for Doug and Rachel’s in Colorado, some new fully built animatronics for Candy’s Burgers and Fries in Arkansas, and even a few Freddy Fazbear animatronics for Utah. The trucks never came during their shift, but there were semis parked out in the guest parking lot to rest before leaving the next morning. 

Chamille took her flashlight and started exploring some of the rooms around the warehouse, but found nothing of interest.

\---

Freddy continuing sweeping the cameras around their assigned areas, watching for signs of anything unusual. The camera screen he was looking at began to fade to smoky black before a dark figure appeared in front of the camera. It looked like the Puppet, but without the mask. The smoky figure wafted through the screens themselves, melding between the cameras that should be rooms apart from each other. Freddy stood up and shook the camera the figure was on from side to side, hoping to figure out what was going on. The camera swiveled and the view changed with it, but the figure didn’t move an inch.

It’s inside the monitors…

Freddy could only watch as the figure went from screen to screen, as if it was looking for something. It seemed to find it as the smoke melted further into the monitor, causing it to flicker before steadying. He moved the camera, and this time the figure moved with the picture. The black smoke wavered before sliding underneath the door to the warehouse, and Freddy changed to a different camera to follow it, his radio left untouched. This camera view wasn’t as clear because it was a bit further away, but the figure could still be seen as it moved from the door towards a door that Chamille was heading to. It slid under the door just before her hand touched the doorknob, and Freddy pushed the microphone button on the camera.

\---

“Don’t open that door!” Freddy’s voice sounded distorted as it called out from behind the door, making Chamille jump away and sweep the room with her flashlight, releasing her hold on the knob. So used to the silence, his voice deafened her ears and she panicked a little bit.

“Wh-what do you mean? Freddy, what’s going on?” She called out, hoping that he was pressing the speaker button.

“Whatever you do, don’t open that door. Come back to base.”

Chamille lightly nodded before glancing back at the door she was about to open, tempted to still open it but left the warehouse without touching it. Heading back to the command center, she opened the door and saw Freddy on the phone with someone.

“…yeah, the address is 1519 Underbridge Ln. in Lake Crystalline…correct, the warehouse. I’ll be waiting outside.” Freddy gave details and hung up the phone, looking at Chamille, “I need you to go to Charlotte’s office and let her know that the police are on the way.”

“What?! What for?!” Swinging her hands out, Chamille gave him a ‘wtf’ face.

“…Just do it, please…” He left the office and headed to the front door. She huffed and pursed her lips before glancing at the camera screens, instantly dropping the flashlight and keyring on the ground. One of the cameras was focused on the larger room she was about to open, and was focused on a slumped over body in the night vision.


	24. Those Empty Heads

Chamille looked puzzled at the body before turning around and headed towards the offices. Knocking on the office door, she opened it slightly and looked inside.

“Ma’am, we have the police on their way to do a full building inspection.” She warned.

“Very well. David and I will make our way outside. Is it for something serious?” Charlotte stood up and gave Fredbear a pat on the head.

“I don’t have that kind of information. I was only told to let you know that the police are on their way.” She was honest, but the body on the camera had her more than curious.

“Alright. David, let’s continue this discussion some other time.” Charlotte swung the door wide and David nodded meekly, before his eyes meet Chamille’s and his lips turned into a smile.

“Of course, Ms. Charlotte.”

\---

A police squad car arrived about 8 minutes after Freddy placed the call and the 2 policemen were escorted by both security officers towards the room that Chamille had almost opened. There was no odor that caught their attention when the storage door was finally opened, and Freddy leaned around the doorframe to turn the lights on. As they lit up the room, all of their eyes were drawn towards the rather large body slumped on the ground, its brown fur revealing who it was.

Freddy Fazbear lay on the ground, unmoving, as the police walked into the room. Freddy and Chamille exchanged glances, both of them wondering how an intact suit made it up the stairs and into a locked room.

After 12 minutes of the police looking around the room, no further action was necessary. They left the warehouse and Freddy started on the incident report paperwork, leaving Chamille to escort Ms. Charlotte and David back into the building. She only found Charlotte sitting on a bench near the front door, looking at the trees blocking the view from the road.

“Ma’am, where’s David?”

“He left before the nice police came, said that he had other business to attend to.” She smiled at Chamille and motioned for her to sit on the spot next to her, “Sit, let’s have a talk outside. It’s so nice out!”

“I can’t, unfortunately. I’m still on shift, thus required to stay within the perimeter of the building.” Chamille shook her head slightly.

“Oh, posh! Keep me company and take your break. These old bones could use the warmth.”

Chamille sighed and scratched her head, “Let me warn my partner of my position…”

\---

Sitting on the bench with a two-way radio clipped to her jeans waistband, Chamille stayed silent while Ms. Charlotte prattled on and on about the restaurant chains that she was opening up. The late spring sun was just as gentle as the slow breeze that kept them cool under its heat. Freddy had no problem with Chamille being outside, and had maneuvered one of the cameras to aim at a wide angle so he could watch them and the front door on one screen.

“You should’ve seen their faces when I brought my idea to the city council of Hurricane! Ha! They were stupefied!” Charlotte laughed, “It wasn’t like I was asking to build a nuclear power plant in their backyard, but they sure acted like it was! Father was nice enough to leave me some ideas in his workshop, so I used those for the Fazbear Pizzarias. Besides, it’s not like he was going to use them…” Her voice trailed off before picking up again, “So I bet you were quite surprised when you first walked into the offices!”

“Oh, yeah. It gave me a scare actually.”

“Oh, did it? They’re harmless, though.”

“Well…not the way the video games portrayed it.” Chamille looked away from Charlotte’s bright and smiling face.

“Video games? Ah, yes…FNERF, or something like that. I’ve received so many interesting letters about it, and have so many more ideas for future restaurants!” The older woman looked so joyous, but Chamille could probably guess that most of those letters were death threats from the fandom, telling her to stop stealing Scott’s digital baby.

“You said something about you travelling to Hurricane?” The back of Chamille’s head started to hurt again.

“Yes, indeed I did. Travelled there with my uncle, Bill, and found 3 different sites for Freddy Fazbear’s. I refused to put Fredbear into one of those because I need him here for company. It’s so exciting! You’re to keep this to yourself, but David volunteered to be the general manager of the newer restaurant there!”


	25. A Change Of Plans

Chamille bit her tongue, the pain in her head getting worse at David’s name. What was it that set it off?

“I thought he was a flex security officer for Bremont?” She tried to recover, but the sensation persisted. Rubbing the back of her head helped, but it didn’t settle the pain completely.

“He is, but he won’t need to be if he passes the hiring process. Of course, this won’t happen for a few months. The building hasn’t even started going up yet!” Charlotte laughed, not noticing Chamille’s discomfort, “Besides, when that restaurant goes up, I’ll be moving this warehouse closer to it. That way the freight prices aren’t as high.”

“That…sounds like a good plan…” Chamille took out her ponytail and started scratching where the pain was the worst. It seemed to calm down. As she pulled her hand away, there was a little bit of black dried blood under her fingernails. Her breath hitched.

\---

“Freddy!”

Chamille had burst through the security door and held out her hand to his face, startling him and making him look confused.

“What is it?”

“It’s my hand. I was scratching my head where it really hurt, but when I pulled it away there was blood under my nails. Can you check to make sure I’m not injured?”

“Sure.” He motioned for her to turn around, and she parted her hair where she had been scratching. Taking his pocket flashlight, he looked around the area without touching anything, but found nothing except a little red mark where her nail must’ve nicked the skin, “Sorry, but I’m not seeing anything.”

“Okay…” Chamille seemed relieved and put her hair back into the ponytail, “Oh! Were you listening in on the conversation?”

“No, I was focused on a brown out that happened in the office hallway. Just a slight drain of power.” He had marked it on his daily activity report sheet.

“Okay, well it turns out that Charlotte does own this with her dad. Or at least, gets the ideas from her dad.” She recounted their earlier conversation, “and she did visit Hurricane, UT with her Uncle Bill.”

“Bill…William Afton. So, we have the solid family connection that we were looking for a while ago.” Freddy pulled out his little notebook and wrote a few things down, “Anything else?”

“We may be out of a job in a few months. She wants to move the warehouse closer to Utah, and we won’t be able to go with because of obvious reasons.” Chamille shrugged and rested her hands on her hips.

“So if there’s any mystery to be solved, we need to do it before then.” Freddy nodded and looked at her, closing the notebook and putting it away.

The rest of their shift went smoothly and the digital clock showed 2059 when there was a knock at the door. Freddy swiveled the camera over and saw David turning around, waving at the camera.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update 04/12


	26. A Darker Threat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super short chapter

“How was your shift? Anything to report?” David sat down and took over controls from Freddy, leaving Chamille still standing by the door in confusion.

“No, nothing odd or out of place.” Freddy answered before grabbing his light jacket and slipping into it. Remembering that it was their last day of the week, Chamille prepared to leave as well.

“That’s good. Have a good weekend.” David smiled and looked over at Chamille, the smile getting wider before Freddy stepped in front of her to block his view. An uneasiness settled in the room between the two men, growing stronger as neither made a move to retreat, “That reminds me…can I have your numbers in case of an emergency?”

“No, you have post orders of who to call when something happens during your shift.” Freddy’s answer was quick, his eyes hardening.

“Oh, that’s right. I forgot about that.” David sneered at him, standing up and moving towards the door, motioning for them to leave. When Chamille was ready, Freddy followed her closely behind but stopped near the security office when she was safely outside.

“What’s your game, David?” He wheeled around and faced the other officer with his whole body.

“I don’t understand what you mean…” The smile didn’t leave. His eyes changed from a softer look to gray-green daggers. The change put Freddy even more on edge, thinking back to what Chamille had said: ‘He went up to the screens and seemed to turn into a different person, someone methodical and planning’.

“You know what I mean, David. I’ve seen the way you look at my partner, and know about the way you acted around her when you had your first shift.” Freddy couldn’t seem to put a pin on this guy. There was definitely something off about him, but he couldn’t pin it on ‘creepy stares’.

“…” David’s eyes widened before he laughed out heartily, “Oh, I see! That ring isn’t real, then, is it?”

‘Ring…?’ A glint from his left hand caught Freddy’s eye, “Yes, it is. My wife and I exchanged our vows, and this is our proof.”

David stopped laughing.

The front area was silent for a while before a chilling voice came from the man in front of Frederick Georgey. His shoulders straightened and the man stood a little bit taller, his front almost shadowed by the backlight of the camera screens in the command center behind him. The gray-green eyes had brightened to a light jade color, partially hidden under hooded eyelids.

 

“Then you won’t mind if I take Chamille Branvo.”


	27. A Touch of Normal

Freddy clenched his fists and glared at this man called David standing in front of him.

“I’m only joking, of course! Ahahah! You should see the look on your face…precious.” The creature smiled wickedly and laughed at a joke that only he found funny, “You should really lighten up, Freddy.”

“Call me Frederick.” The Marine growled and turned to walk out of the building, grinding his teeth as he bit back his fury.

\---

The weekend passed agonizingly slow for him, part of his mind still worried about David’s words. Amy had been given clearance to come home from the hospital about 2 days ago and she was still bed-ridden, but that didn’t stop her from trying to get back to her normal life. Her work had been giving her hassle about her FMLA despite the paperwork they were sent, but it seemed to settle on its own, allowing her one more week of home recovery. Freddy wouldn’t allow his mind to really settle on this weekend, and kept doing things to occupy his time off.

“Freddy, what’s on your mind?” Amy’s slender hand pulled at his waistband belt loop, stopping him from sweeping the hardwood bedroom floor.

“Nothing really…just letting what someone said get to me, I guess.” He sat down near her on the cleanish floor, the broom leaning against his shoulder.

“When a woman says ‘nothing really’, she means the world is falling down on her. When my husband says ‘nothing really’, he’s thinking about something serious. Now, tell me what’s going on.” Amy rested her book on an empty space next to her, giving him her full attention.

“Do you remember the call I got when you were still in the hospital?”

“Oh, the one from your work partner?”

“The same. I discovered that her fears were pretty well founded about this person.”

“Is he a brute? Did you throw him far?” Amy rubbed the one shoulder she had access to from his position.

“No, nothing like that. She had left work, but he asked for our numbers as we were leaving.” He put his hand over hers, dwarfing it in size.

“So, he’s a stalker, then. Did you report him?” Amy sighed, her free hand rubbing her forehead.

“Not yet. I will tomorrow, though. I just need time to think things over, to word it right.” Freddy promised.

“May I ask what happened…?” Her voice became soft, as if asking about a taboo subject. Freddy thought about it before shaking his head.

“Maybe another time, after this thing is over. It involves 2 parties that aren’t here, and I don’t want to talk behind their backs…well, okay. I don’t care about talking behind his back, but I respect her too much to do it.”

“You aren’t cheating on me, are you?” Amy playfully swatted at his hand.

“You caught me.” He stood up and kissed her on the lips, smiling as he pulled away, “I love you.”

\---

Chamille collapsed after arriving home Sunday night, throwing the keys on the dining room table, setting her purse down and falling face first into a cold bed. The tuxedo cat greeted her cheerfully and followed her into the bedroom, jumping onto the bed and rubbing against her head.

“Hey Concordokken…” Chamille scratched behind the cat’s ears and stripped off her clothes, tucking herself into the bed with her nightshirt billowing around her like a gown. She passed out very quickly in the cold apartment.

Waking up the next morning, Chamille stretched and yawned widely. 

“Good morning, my kitties.” Kris leaned in from the doorway, passing by the room as he moved towards the living room.

“Hey.” Her mind slowly caught up, “Hey! Want to do anything tonight?” They only got a few days off together, and she didn’t want to pass this up.

“After my ops, maybe. I’m hopping on now, and have no clue how long it’ll last.”

“With the alliance, or just your corp?” Chamille threw on some pj pants and headed towards his desk, putting a hand on his chair and watching over his shoulder as he logged into the game.

“The alliance. FC just got word of a big fleet heading our way, so we’re to defend our system and destroy what we can.” He slid on a large pair of headphones, and opened up a communications program.

“Have fun, I love you.” She whispered to his left ear as she heard voices light up his headphones. Sounded like a big war, and she didn’t want to distract. The last time she did on accident, he had lost one of his wormhole exploration ships but he was able to recover the debris and loot afterwards.

She grabbed a PSP off of the video game shrine and turned it on, plugging it in before settling into the couch. With Kris ordering some fleet members to flank and warp and Chamille settled for a day of being lazy, the time passed quickly, the clock turning 1824 before Kris was finally done with the op and Chamille was halfway through the game.

“Whoo…okay. So, I’m hungry. What do you want to do for food?” He leaned in his office chair, looking over at her while the ship on his screen sat just outside station and repaired itself.

“I’ll make something if you promise to tell me how it went?” She paused the game begrudgingly, finally at the climax.

“It’s a deal.”


	28. A Touch of Fear

Chamille’s weekend passed quickly and soon found herself standing in front of the command center doors at work again, taking a deep breath and opening it to find Freddy inside, watching the cameras as if he never left.

“Hey.” She grabbed the seat next to him after putting away her belongings.

“Hey there. Good weekend?”

“Yeah, it is. Finally got to enjoy a few days off fully.” 

“You haven’t before?” He raised an eyebrow but didn’t turn to look at her.

“No, I have…but it’s been a while.” She paused, “I’ve been having nightmares.”

Freddy didn’t say anything, but he took in a deep breath and slowly released it through his nose. Briefly closing his eyes, he reflected on what he and Amy talked about the past few days.

“They’re about David, aren’t they?”

Chamille didn’t answer immediately, but slowly nodded her head. She knew that David was only a person, a human being, and wasn’t some kind of otherworld creature that came to haunt her, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of being hunted when around him. She even considered taking self-defense classes just in case. Freddy’s hands and eyes stopped moving on the console, and he turned towards her, fully focused on her.

“I want you to talk to me about this. I’m your work partner, but I don’t want you dragging yourself through an imaginary bog because of something that may not even happen.” Freddy didn’t reach out and touch her, but kept his eyes locked onto hers.

“I…There’s not much to talk about…”

“Yes, there is.” Freddy cut her off, “There is something bothering you about David, and to my knowledge, you haven’t contacted Ms. Charlotte about it.”

Chamille sucked her lips in, biting them while trying to think of something to say. Freddy waited a while before she spoke again.

“I’m…worried…that it’s all in my head. That David is a nice guy, he just has no people skills…”

“He has communication and people skills. We had a nice chat about that.” He folded his arms.

“Oh…Then maybe I should go see Charlotte about it, then.” She stood up and walked to the office door. Freddy didn’t stop her, turning back to the cameras and switching to the one in office 1254.

\---

Chamille knocked on the door gently.

“Yes? Come in.” Charlotte’s voice seemed happy from the other side.

Chamille opened it and stepped in, taking a seat at Charlotte’s request. What had seemed like a simple question to ask had turned into Mount Everest, towering above her like an impossible request.

“You wanted to see me, dear?” Charlotte had turned from Fredbear, who still looked pristine, and looked directly at Chamille.

“Well…yes. It’s about David…I was wondering if you could speak with Bremont Security…about changing him to a different location…?” Her brain faltered, the words becoming unrecognizable in her mind as she strung them together.

“What’s wrong with him being here, Chamille? Are you not comfortable with him working the shift after yours?” A puzzled look spread on Charlotte’s face.

“No…well, yes. He makes me uncomfortable, and he seems to stare at me all the time.” Slowly, she unraveled the words and started speaking more normally.

“I see. Well, I can do the best I can when I speak to Bremont about switching him.” The older woman nodded and looked over at Fredbear, as if it was speaking to her, “Yes, that’s a good idea. I’ll see what I can do about it, dearie.” She turned her attention back to Chamille.

“Oh…oh, thank you!” Chamille stood up and left the office, a weight lifted off of her shoulders, heading back to the command center.

\---

Charlotte leaned back in her chair, “Oh, dear…What a puzzle this turned out to be.” She turned back to Fredbear, and it turned its head towards her.

“You’ve done well so far, Charlie. Don’t give up hope now.” A deep male voice rumbled from its throat.

“You’re quite right, Freddie dear. Just one more thing to do…”


	29. The Gears Are Turning, And The Motion Begun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another super short chapter, but I promise to make it up to you guys!

The rest of the week passed somewhat normally, Chamille would always leave a minute early to avoid seeing David and Freddy would leave shortly after David arrived. David had seemed pleased about this turn of events, leaving little gifts for Freddy and Chamille to find during their shift that the 1st shift didn’t pick up. The ‘gifts’ were on the border of harassment and Charlotte claimed that there was no other position that David could fit into at Bremont, asking the two if they could ‘just hold on for another week’.

\---

“This is ridiculous!” Chamille cried out as she planted her forehead on the desk, making a hollow thud, “How is this guy still employed with Bremont?!”

Freddy didn’t make any response and continued to watch the cameras as Chamille scratched the back of her head again. He didn’t understand it, either, but knew the upper echelon of most companies tended to ignore the little workers that brought in money. She sighed loudly, almost a furious growl, and wrapped her arms around her head.

Silence fell in the command center, only broken by the clicking of buttons on the console.

“Freddy, can we talk about something?” Her voice was quiet, tired and drained by a weary work week.

“What did you want to talk about?”

“Can we talk about the events in FNAF 4?”

“I guess. We kinda stopped after 2, but why jump to 4?”

“Because the year in the game would put it before FNAF1…and we didn’t really talk about it because we started with the first game.” She raised her head slowly, her voice becoming less muffled.

“Sure. What did you want to start with?”

“The older brother.”

Freddy’s fingers stopped moving, “…why him?”

“Because he’s the only other adult-like figure that we see in the house.” Chamille moved from the desk to the seat next to Freddy.

“Alright. Let’s see what we can dig up.” He lets the cameras go on auto-plot swivel and partially diverts his attention to Chamille, pulling out his smartphone and going onto the internet.


	30. As Purple As A Bruise

The lights flickered briefly and the monitor wall went out for a few seconds, causing Freddy to stand up and head out the door towards the front lobby area. Chamille waited for a moment before the cameras came back online, seeing the screens flicker before Freddy walked back inside the room.

“What the hell was that?” He took control of the outside perimeter cameras and put them on a fast auto-pilot swivel, watching each screen closely. There was nothing disturbing the generators, and nothing on the fence line. No breaks, no disturbances, nothing.

“I don’t know…Can you check the warehouse?” Chamille rubbed the back of her head, the thought becoming foremost in her mind and the itch growing stronger.

“Yeah, I’ll…what the fuck.” It wasn’t a question.

On the screen, the pure black smoky figure made itself known, standing directly in front of the camera. There was no Puppet mask. It glided through the screens again, shimmering as it paused before one of Freddy Fazbear boxes on camera and melding through the screen. The shadow figure lifted an arm, touching the box briefly and sliding the hand through a slit in the wooden crate. Chamille instantly grabbed her cell phone and tried to pull up the camera mode, but as soon as she pushed it, the phone went from full battery to dead. The shadow figure looked back at the security camera as if to mock her and waved its other hand in a demeaning manner.

“That’s…not possible.”

With its arm halfway into the box, the figure recoiled as if touching something foul, pulling out of the crate and stepping away. The camera feed grew with static before settling again, and the shadow figure was gone from sight.

Silence filled the room before Freddy spoke.

“No, seriously…what the fuck was that.”

\---

Freddy had recovered before their shift ended, but Chamille was left with fiddling on his phone, leaving her phone to charge on his external battery. There was a slight air of tension between them, but there was no logical explanation for what they saw. If they were normal, both of them would’ve walked out of the job by now.  
“Freddy…was that the Puppet?” Chamille looked up from his phone, pausing the mobile app that she was playing.

“No…that was the same thing that I saw when the animatronic body was found. I don’t know what it is.”

“So…is it a good thing, or a bad thing?”

“I don’t know what it is.” He repeated, his voice terse.

“Oh…” She quieted and focused back on the game.

\---

2100.

“Knock, knock.” David’s voice came through the door before it opened. Chamille quickly gave Freddy’s phone back and tried to make it past, but David reached out and grabbed her shoulder, “Slow down there. You look like you saw a ghost.”

“Don’t touch me.” She ducked her shoulder under his hand, turning to face him, “I don’t like you. I think you’re creepy and weird.” Before he could respond, she practically ran out of the doorway, rubbing her shoulder where his fingers brushed against it.

“…” David smiled before turning to face the bigger man, “Any compliments you’d like to add, Frederick?”

“No, not really.” Freddy slid on his light hoodie but didn’t zip up the front, “Just wondering what’s going on with you. Curious, actually.”

“Funny…I could say the same to you.” David shrugged off his thin windbreaker and pulled out a tablet with a dark purple casing. The color caught Freddy’s eye, and his gaming memory came flooding back with the 8-bit icon that took the internet by storm.

“I never took you for a purple guy.”

“…” There was a slight pause in David’s face before a cruel smile slithered across it, torn open by laughter, “Ahaha! Oh, Freddy-boy! You’re so rude! This is my ex’s tablet. Ghastly thing, but I took it because she left it at my apartment. You are funny though, calling me a Purple Guy! I’m more of a beige color myself, but maybe I’ll take that title.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update will be 04/19


	31. Reuniting With Friends

Freddy inhaled slowly, watching David as he settled into the seat for the shift. Turning around and walking out of the building, he saw that Chamille had already left. He felt guilty about the situation, even though they were doing all they could to alleviate it. Only 2 more days before Charlotte was supposed to find a way to get rid of David, or that was the hope.

Turning over the engine in his truck, he checked his phone for messages but found no new ones. Some of his friends were having a get-together tonight nearby at a bar, maybe he’d go and check it out.

\---

“Holy shit, Banjo?!”

A small group of men were clustered in a corner booth at a local bar, all looking at Freddy with surprise. He looked over the 4 men, taking in their new appearances. Gunsmoke (Steve Arlin), Window (Peter Denew), Goat Face (Matthew Brandon), and Angry Dragon (Chris Jennis) moved to open a seat for Freddy.

Gunsmoke was a grizzled man in his 40s, the oldest of the fire team; his bright blue eyes never seemed to fade, and his smoke-shaped scar had stretched over his rounder cheek to touch the corner of his right eye. Despite the older age, he still looked like he was in fit condition. He had tanner skin and his once-brown hair was now streaked with ash-gray.

Window was still a beanpole compared to the rest of the men, his clothes seemingly hanging off of a closet hanger. Freddy knew that it wasn’t just skin and bone under that fabric; the hardened muscles of a sniper lay waiting to spring into action. He was a bit younger than Freddy, but a damn good shot better than anyone he knew. He had finally managed to grow a full-sized red beard, matching his darker red hair and eyes.

Goat Face had managed to move past the goatee that coined his callsign. His face was still gaunt but it had grown some fat in the cheeks, rounding out his face quite nicely. The black hair still didn’t suit his green eyes, but he didn’t seem to care about it. Freddy remembered being paired with Goaty a few times under fire, and was proud that he had been able to work with a steady guy. 

Angry Dragon seemed to be worse-off after their tours, though. His black skin seemed stretched thin over his body, showing only a little bit of muscle that had remained after they came home. His dark brown eyes were sunken in, almost hollow. Despite the frail appearance, he seemed to have a renewed inner strength.

“Hey guys,” Freddy pulled out the empty chair and sat in it, “Decided I’d stop by and see how you guys were getting into trouble.”

“Oh, no. No trouble here.” Gunsmoke laughed heartily.

“How have you been? How’s Amy?” A. Dragon smiled and handed the drink menu to Freddy.

“Amy’s doing well, and I’ve been working a job for a security company. Didn’t want to spend my time wasting away.” Freddy put the menu down, not interested in spending hours here.

“Nice! Where are you at?”

“Some warehouse down the road.”

“You mean the animatronic warehouse?” Window nursed his beer.

“…yeah. You’ve heard of it?” Freddy cocked an eyebrow.

“Who hasn’t.” Goaty frowned, “Rumors flying around about it being haunted and shit. Have you talked to Gunner about it?”

“Yeah, but not for a while.”

“It seems like they’re shipping out some bad press.”

“Well…yeah. I’ve known that since day 1.” Freddy ordered a glass of water from the waiter who had walked up to the table, “A. Cleaners has permissions from the creators.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about, Banjo.” Goaty pressed, leaning over the table, “I’m talking about the old crone who owns it.”

Freddy paused in drinking the fresh glass, “What about Charlotte…?”

“Her uncle, William Afton, is working for her.”


	32. Back To Reality

“Really…” Freddy thought back to his conversations with Mayors, trying to mentally bring up the picture that he had sent about Charlotte’s business partner.

“You don’t seem too surprised about it.” A. Dragon finished his drink, leaning back into the high chair and looking at Freddy.

“I’m not. I’ve been dealing with a few strange things at work, so it’s hard to faze me with that kind of info.” Freddy rubbed his thumb over the glass, wiping away the condensation, “I’ve already figured out that the CEO of A. Cleaners is Charlotte Afton and, by that line of thought, William can’t be too far behind.”

“What about Henry Afton?” Goaty pressed, “Have you seen the news about him?”

“When did this become an interrogation?” He sighed, “No, I haven’t.”

“He was found dead in his study, his throat slit open. The news was kept silent about this, but some people at Nellis AFB know about it.”

“Now I know you’re lying.” Freddy huffed, taking another pull from the water glass.

“He’s telling the truth, Freddy.” Gunsmoke lowered his voice, barely audible above the din around them, “For whatever reason, someone wants this murder kept hush-hush.”

Freddy stilled and tried to think of something that would explain why, but came up empty.

“Sorry about the dark topic, but we wanted to tell you.”

\---

Freddy pulled into the garage and turned off the truck, sitting in the driver’s seat for a while. Thinking about only one thing the 2-hour drive back home, his mind finally wore itself out trying to figure out how to connect the hushed murder to the warehouse that he was contracted to. He gave up and walked from the truck to his house, closing the garage door and locking the inside door to the house.

“Hey, welcome home.” Amy greeted him from the living room, laying comfortably with another book nestled between her legs and waist, her thighs acting like a book-stand.

“What are you doing out here?” He dropped off the keys on the wall hook, and draped his light jacket over a dining room chair.

“I wanted a change of location. I got tired of the bedroom walls, and thought it would be okay for me to move down here.” She looked at him from over the back of the couch, trying not to pivot too much.

“That’s fine, Amy. If you feel like you can move around, you can. I’m not going to keep you bedridden your entire life.”

She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, “Freddy, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know what you mean?” He paused and looked towards her, confusion on his face.

“You’re doing it again.” She leaned up and put the book down, “Whenever you start thinking really hard, you tend to shut people out. Is there something that you want me to listen to? Maybe if you talk it out, it’ll help you unwind and relax.”

“I can try.” Freddy turned around and sat by Amy’s feet on the couch, “Just…stop me if something doesn’t make sense to you, okay?”

She nodded and focused as he took a breath and released it.

“So, this whole thing started when I found out who I was to be contracted to: A. Cleaners. I dug up a little history and found a few things that didn’t make sense about it. First, there was a merger with a different company and a practically unknown CEO listed as Charlotte. I had taken a guess that her last name was Afton, giving her a full name of Charlotte Afton, which would’ve made her a relative of William and Henry Afton.

“Secondly, before the company had sprung up there was virtually no evidence to support that it existed. The only thing that I could find was some restaurants in Hurricane, UT that were hoping to open up. After I got this contract, I started finding pieces of information that helped finish the puzzle that I started with. It seems that Charlotte had another partner, who still remains a mystery, but I’ve just found out that she’s working with her uncle, who is a villain in a video game franchise.

“This leaves me in a bind because most of the major events in the video game franchise seem to be based on real life events, but I can’t seem to find anything that proves it. Whenever I make a connection to a clue, there’s something else that throws a wrench into the plan. Now, I feel like my partner and I are being hunted by this villain, but there seems to be another force at work against him.”

“You mentioned that you saw a clown face at work.” Amy interjected.

“Yeah, that’s the force I’m talking about, but I haven’t seen it since. There’s been something similar, without the mask, but I’m getting the feeling that it’s malicious. Chamille has been complaining about her head hurting or itching whenever that thing or the Puppet shows up, but I don’t really know what to do. I feel like I’m fighting a war that I’m not even participating in…” Freddy broke, the bottled up rage and anger melting into sadness and helplessness, draining down his face and dripping onto his knees as he propped his head up on them.

Amy shifted around and leaned on him, rubbing his head with both of her hands, “Hey there…it’s going to be alright. Don’t confuse reality with fiction, okay? Maybe the creator of the games had seen a small snip-it of a story that happened in the past, and wanted to publicize it without drawing attention to the actual event.” She suggested, rattling off what was going through her head.

“That’s what I had thought originally, but the events are too similar to be a coincidence…” Freddy leaned back, wiping away the remaining tears and taking a deep breath, his mind now a little clearer.

“What about if the creator personally knew the CEO of the company and wanted to help her build a business from a story?”

Freddy stared at his wife.


	33. Dream Your Dream

“That’s a little too farfetched, I think.” He shook his head after processing what Amy offered.

“It’s still an option, right?” She moved away from him and back to the position she was in, lifting the book and propping it against her bent legs again. Freddy smirked at himself; what his wife had suggested wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. Several other companies had created stories that the public ate up before launching something similar to the story they had fabricated.

“Go to sleep when you can.” He got up and kissed her forehead, leaning over the book, “You’re too smart for me when you’re awake.” 

\---

Chamille groaned as she walked into the command center, the headache she had acquired over the past few hours getting worse with the daylight. It was still before her shift and she just wanted respite from the bright sun outside, cursing the fact that summer was almost here. She plopped herself down on the chair tucked in the corner desk, ignoring the looks and glances of the 2 female officers still on shift. Their voices hushed even further, allowing Chamille a brief silence before her eyes closed in a light sleep.

She opened her eyes to an inky blackness that seemed to stretch on forever, only disrupted by two dots of white in the distance.

“Hello?” Her voice dripped from her mouth like ooze, muffled and elongated.

White noise answered her call, and the dots moved a little closer to her. She tried lifting her feet to run away but they were stuck within a writhing black mass, heavy with weight and appearing like a pool of black snakes. The white dots kept moving closer until she was able to make out a form behind the dots. Tall and thin, its head was a featureless humanoid thing with no hair, nose or mouth, leaving the white dots to form its soulless eyes. It stood well beyond 3 feet above her, leaning over and leering down at her. The body of this creature didn’t seem to exist, only represented by moving shadows like an animated storyboard of darkness. Two arms hung from slumped shoulders, the sharp fingers trailing in the muck she was stuck in, and the waist rested near where the elbows should be. It had no defined legs but the movement was like a tight black skirt, walking towards her with purpose.

‘you shouldn’t be here’

It was the tiniest whisper, barely audible above the white noise.

‘i will save you’

A darker shadow cast itself over Chamille from behind, forcing her to turn around to see where it originated from. She saw a human male, taller than herself and possibly taller than Freddy, standing behind her with his arms out, as if trying to embrace her. There was no color, only darkness…but this darkness seemed comfortable, friendly. She reached out to the human shape and heard a low rumble, as if a machine was grating to a halt, behind her. Looking up, Chamille saw the towering moving shadow create a split where its mouth would be, crimson red light and pointed teeth revealing themselves. It moved downwards quickly, threatening to swallow her whole. The humanoid grabbed her outstretched hand and pulled her into a dark liquid substance, similar to water. The impact made her shiver and release the breath she was holding, looking up through the surface to see the humanoid swallowed by the living darkness in her place. Chamille was overcome by sadness, crying out for the humanoid and trying to swim back up, only to be pulled deeper into the dark water.

‘i will warn you’


	34. The Edge Of The Rabbithole

Chamille took a deep breath and opened her eyes, finding herself laying on the ground. Freddy was standing by the door and staring at her with the corners of his mouth crooked, stifling a laugh.

“…Are you okay…?” He coughed before closing the door and walking over towards her, a hand reached out to help her up.

“Yeah, I think so…just had a bad dream.” She took it and was firmly pulled upwards until her knees were propped up. She gathered herself before fully standing up, taking a deep breath and sighing.

“So, what happened? You didn’t seem like you were having a peaceful rest.” Freddy jabbed a thumb at the digital wall clock, showing 1826.

“Oh, no…I actually fell asleep?! Why didn’t you wake me?!” Her eyes widened and looked at him in exasperation, rubbing her cheeks and straightening her clothes before taking a seat next to the console.

“Because you looked like you needed it. I’m still waiting on an answer for my question.” He put the keyring back on the hook near the door and sat next to her, turning off the auto-pilot swivel on some of the cameras. She yawned widely, tears peaking through her eyelids, before she wiped them away and looked at the cameras. Nothing seemed to have changed since last shift, but she felt an emptiness that she couldn’t explain.

“I…” Chamille was interrupted by a yawn again, “I was dreaming of something. There didn’t seem to be a rhyme or reason to it, but there were 2 forces of darkness that appeared before me. I seemed to be stuck in some kind of black bog, and there was a towering figure standing in front of me that kept walking closer. This thing was big, like 3 feet or more taller than me!” She held her left hand as high as it would go, but it seemed that even that measurement was too short, “After that one appeared, there was another one behind me but much smaller. They seemed to be at odds with each other…”

Her mind tried to piece together what she had seen and felt, but it slipped through her mental fingers like water.

“Did they say anything?” Freddy questioned without thought.

“…No, I don’t remember if they did. I just remember feeling very sad.” Chamille quieted down, “I’m going to be in trouble for this, aren’t I.”

Freddy didn’t answer and didn’t look at her.

\---

Their last shift for the week passed slowly, no further comments being made by Freddy or Chamille.

David waited for them to grab their things before walking into the room, a sly smile on his face. He made no move to touch Chamille or talk to Freddy, but seemed preoccupied with something else. She sucked in a sharp breath as she passed him, the dream refreshing itself in her mind and the tall dark creature hovered over David, its cruel crimson smile gleaming down at her. She quickened her pace and David only spared her a backwards glance, an eyebrow cocked in curiosity before closing the door.

“Freddy…?” Chamille reached out and tugged on his long sleeve, trying to stop him from leaving. Freddy paused at the sensation, looking back down at her.

“What is it?” He made no move to make her release the sleeve from her hand, only turning partially to face her.

“Who is David?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update on 04/26


	35. The Calm Before The Storm

Freddy sat on the couch with his wife’s head leaning on his thigh, rubbing a hand over the coarse peach fuzz of a beard he had let go. She was almost finished with the book she had started before her appendectomy, and was a little behind on her book club reading list. There was calm jazz playing lightly in the background and all of the windows were open, airing out the stale winter air and refreshing the need for dusting to be done. He looked from Amy’s head to across the room, laying his eyes on the collection of photos she had framed on the once empty wall of their living room.

8 years of photographs were practically covering every inch of the wall, from their wedding photos to pictures he’d sent through mail of himself and his fire squad, and some of her and her working crew. His mind wandered to their wedding day, thinking about how proud he was to have claimed her as his wife when they were speaking their vows, to when they had come back from their brief honeymoon taking a train around America. They weren’t into the romantic scene and loved military history, with him following his father’s and grandfather’s bootprints and Amy following her dream of being an aeronautical engineer. She had helped build some of the craft that provided covering fire for him on the ground, and he could’ve swore that those craft flew faster and turned sharper than anything he’d seen on the field.

With his mind catching up to recent times, Freddy couldn’t help but think of what Chamille said before they left work ‘Who is David?’. He had never considered looking up other security officers before, but perhaps there was a history to this guy. David certainly acted like he was mentally ill, but who was Freddy to judge? People thought he had PTSD like so many others that returned home, but he was one of the few fortunate ones that seemed to have no ill effects coming home. He removed his hand from his stubble and reached over to the table next to the couch, grabbing his phone off of it, and opening a web browser.

“Well, that’s one done. I can finally mark that off the list, and give my opinion about it.” Amy sighed and closed the big book, letting it lightly fall to the floor.

“And what is your opinion about it?” Freddy asked, his free hand moving from her shoulder to her head, scratching it a little.

“That it’s one big circle jerk.”

Freddy stopped scrolling and looked down at Amy with two raised eyebrows, shock and confusion on his face. Amy looked back at him with a smirk on her lips.

“Just making sure you were paying attention.”

“That’s a hell of a way to do it.” He shook his head and looked back at the phone, “Now that your opinion is out there for all to see, what did you actually think about it?”

“Tedious. I probably would enjoy it more if the male lead wasn’t talking so much. The female lead was decent, but took too many drugs and had too horrible of a backstory to be realistic.” Amy sighed, looking at the book cover, “It shouldn’t even be called a ‘romance’ novel. It’s more like fantasy with all of the problems that he had to save her from, and she had to protect him from.”

“What would’ve made it better?”

“I don’t know…Me not even having to read it for the club?” Amy laughed as she sat up slowly, the waistband of her loose sweatpants tied above the stitches that were freshly taken out.

“You should suggest a book for them, make them suffer like you have.” Freddy put down the phone, focusing fully on his wife.

“Yeah, like ‘The Silver Eyes’. That’s a cakewalk for anyone who can figure out what’s going on, or has the attention span of a hunting hawk.” She rolled her eyes and looked over at Freddy, “Speaking of which, you were being so gung-ho about that series a little while ago. What happened to it?”

“Nothing really, just kinda dropped it because it was a rabbithole that I wasn’t willing to jump down. I’ve got a guy trying to jump down my coworker’s throat, and the boss…isn’t all there, I think.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Have you seen that ghost figure again?”

“The Puppet? No, not since that one time. Though, it’s weird…” He scratched his head, “Yesterday, I walked into the office and Chamille was sleeping. I could’ve sworn I saw a figure standing over her, watching her sleep. I didn’t get any bad feeling from it, and I hit it a few times but my hand passed right through.”

“Maybe it was her guardian angel.”

“That’s what I thought, too…but it was smiling like an angel shouldn’t be smiling.”


	36. A Dark Soul

Chamille groaned and let her head drop as the TV pronounced her character dead. It wasn’t a new game but she had never played it before, so she had wanted to give it a try. Unfortunately, the video game reviewers weren’t wrong about this one; it was a very hard game with no hand-holding from a tutorial. She didn’t mind that kind of game but this one was brutal.

“You need to roll to dodge that attack.” Kris swallowed his gulp of Vanilla Coke before speaking, watching her play from his computer desk.

“I tried.”

“Yeah, but it was a little too late at that point.” He took a bite of his crafted turkey sandwich and chewed for a little bit, “Think of it as a rhythm game. Each enemy has their own pattern, and you have to learn how to conduct their timing.”

“This isn’t DDR.”

“It’s Dark Souls, Chammie. You will die.”

Chamille huffed and focused back on the TV screen, gripping the controller and trying again. She was able to switch her focus from a hack-and-slash to a paced game, slowly learning their patterns and breaking their stances. Kris finished his sandwich and cleared his plate, leaving her to play the game that made a lot of people rage quit.

\---

She set the controller down on the battery charger, turning off the gaming system and heading to the bedroom. Kris was still on the computer, his alliance giving a system-wide emergency call to arms. Chamille fell onto the bed face first and sunk her head into her pillow, a little upset from the game but mostly from a lingering feeling from work. The look that Freddy had given her before they left the parking lot stuck in her head, a look of confusion and wary.

‘Who is David?’ she had asked.

He had never given his last name and offered no nickname to be called by. If anything, it seemed like a persona; something to hide behind while the real person watched every event that happened with a keen eye. He was human, as far as she could tell, and he had no wedding band. That was all of the information that she wanted to know about him. Chamille rolled over onto her back, letting her body relax in the cool room.

She pulled out her phone and brought up the scheduling manager’s number, her finger hovering over the ‘call’ button.

“Hello? Hello, hello?” Her finger was depressed on the touch screen, his voice bringing her back to conscience.

“Oh…it’s Chamille. I was actually wondering about a security officer that I work with at my site, located in Lake Crystalline.” She recovered and pressed the phone to her ear.

“Alright…?”

“There’s a man named David that relieves me from post. He hasn’t divulged his last name, but I feel like I need to report him to the police. Can I get his last name?” Chamille bit her lower lip and held her breath.

There was a pause on the other line as she heard a keyboard typing away.

“I don’t have a David at your location, Ms. Branvo.”


	37. A New Plan Of Attack

“There’s no David sent by Bremont?” Chamille repeated, her mind blank.

“Yes, that’s correct.” Her scheduling manager confirmed.

“Oh, okay. He must work for a different company. Thank you for the info.” She hung up and let her arm drop, the phone falling from her hand onto the floor.

Her mind emptied and the initial meeting with David formed in her head, his crooked smile spreading across his face as their eyes locked. Tears welled up and clouded her vision of the white ceiling, silent sobs threatening to break the solemn silence in the bedroom. Her control finally broke and a wail parted her lips but she dug her face into her pillow, smothering the sound and preventing it from being heard in the living room. She didn’t want to worry Kris, especially when she was crying over nothing.

She didn’t want to go back to work.

She didn’t want to work.

\---

Freddy looked at his phone while waiting in the parking lot of the warehouse, waiting for a text from Gunner in regards to a meet-up in a few months. It was still 5 minutes before his shift started, but he was a little worried about Chamille. She hadn’t left in the best state and he hadn’t checked up on her, reminding himself that even though Amy was okay with him talking to her, Kris may not be as forgiving.

The familiar white sedan pulled into the spot next to him and Chamille stepped out, rubbing her eyes and looking at the building. Freddy climbed down from his truck and waved at her, glad that she hadn’t done anything. They didn’t say anything to each other, just walked inside together and clocked in. Freddy settled into his position and looked at the cameras in their different positions, changing some of them for a better angle of view. Chamille settled into the corner desk and lay her head in her arms, quiet.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong?” Freddy inquired, knowing that she wasn’t behaving normally.

“There’s nothing really wrong…just my thoughts running wild with ideas.” Her sleeves muffled her voice, but it was still audible.

“What ideas? Maybe if you talk about them, they’ll organize themselves out and leave you with a clear head.” He turned around to look at the back of her head, trying to figure out what’s wrong.

“Nothing really…”

“I know that one, too.” He stood up and walked towards her, putting his hand gently on her left shoulder blade, “Come on, Chammie. You know you can talk to me about whatever. It doesn’t leave the room.”

She finally looked up at him, rolling her head to the side to see him out of her peripheral vision, “It’s in regards to David. I called my scheduling manager to ask a few questions…and found out that Bremont Security Inc. doesn’t have a ‘David’ scheduled here.”

Freddy stiffened but instantly recovered, not wanting to make Chamille worry further, “What else did they tell you?”

“Nothing…I just called to ask about his last name since he hasn’t given it at all, and they said that the site doesn’t have a ‘David’ working here as a security officer.” She straightened up and Freddy removed his hand on her.

“That is a bit of news. How about you leave a few minutes early tonight, and I’ll question him about it.” He goes back to his seat near the control panel. She nods and sits up a little bit more, no longer slouched over the desk.


	38. Secrets To Be Held

Chamille brightened up throughout the shift, the conversation led by Freddy to various other things that he had picked up on through the year. They talked about vacation destinations that she and Kris wanted to go to, including Hawaii for Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. She seemed more focused on the military historic sites than anything else, which didn’t faze Freddy in the slightest, knowing that she and Amy would probably get along like paper and glue if they met. He glanced at the clock to see that it was 2054.

“Hey, kiddo. It’s about that time. Go on and clock out, and I’ll let Charlotte know the reason why.” He pulled the chair she was using back to its original place and she nodded, gathering her things and heading out the door. Freddy steeled himself and focused on the cameras, switching to the perimeter cameras to see that she pulled out of the parking lot a few moments before another car pulled in. He guessed that it was David, and his guess was confirmed when David stood up from the car to walk into the building. Another moment afterwards, the door opened to a smiling man looking at Freddy.

“Hello, there. Anything new happening in the building?” He dropped off his lunch bag on the corner desk and slunk into the seat, his body contorting with the transition of the position.

“No, only a few power glitches here and there. Nothing powered down, or up.” Freddy turned to face him, his military mind snapping to attention as he drank in David’s form. His sharp jade eyes were looking right at him, supposedly doing the same thing as Freddy was. His once-brown hair was now turning grayish as if the hair was dying, and his face seemed more gaunt than usual, like he had been losing weight. David’s frame was thinner than the first time they met in the fiery clash, and he didn’t seem to mind it. It was the eyes that drew his attention again; what was once a clouded green was now a sharp emerald, no longer dulled by age but rather like a freshly polished gem.

“That’s good.” David stood up again, allowing Freddy to see more of his movement. It wasn’t choppy like an older man, but like a younger one who had been a gymnast his whole life. The muscles that were there moved like a liquid under the visible skin, sending a chill down Freddy’s spine.

Unnatural.

That was the word that dominated Freddy’s mind. Unnaturally formed, unnaturally moving, unnaturally…unnatural.

“You enjoying the view, Banjo?”

Freddy’s heart stopped, his face taut and staring right at David, “What…?”

“Oh, sorry. I thought you liked being called that. I just overheard a conversation that you were having with some friends and they kept calling you ‘Banjo’. Were you in the military?” David laughed lightly, his eyes never leaving Freddy’s.

“If you overheard, then you would’ve heard me calling them by other names as well.” This wasn’t the fight he had in mind. Taken off-guard, Freddy rolled his shoulders to reset his system and settled into his ‘no nonsense’ mode, blocking everything else out but the man in front of him, “Seems to me that you were having selective hearing that night.”

“No, I heard everything. I just thought it was some cult thing, with the cute nicknames of Gunslinger and Angry Dragon.” The man stood in front of the command console, blocking out the view of most of the center camera monitor screens and putting his hands on the desk to lean over, “So, Banjo…you look like you have many questions.”

“Don’t call me that, but I do have some questions. So let me ask the important one first. Who are you exactly?” Freddy didn’t budge nor did he move to match David’s dominating position.

“My name is David, I’m older than I look and I work for…ah, used to work for Bremont Security Inc.” He answered with only a slight hesitation, not moving anything but his lips.

“What’s your last name?”

“That’s classified, but if you need an initial…I can give you M.”

“David M. then. Why are you so focused on Chamille B.? She’s told you multiple times that she doesn’t want you around or to touch her.”

“I do that because I like to tease people when they’re uncomfortable. It makes me happy to see them…squirm.”

“…You’re sick, do you know that?” Freddy stood up and grabbed his light coat, slinging it over his shoulder.

“I may be sick, but at least I know what I want.” David watched as he left, the smirk growing wider on his lips, “And I always get what I want.” Freddy snapped mentally and clenched his fist hard, the veins bulging as he fought an inner battle to slug David in the face. Knowing what he’s seen, Freddy figured that David would want that, to remove the obstacle between himself and Chamille. Slowly uncurling his fist, Freddy took in deep breaths.

“You will not get your way, David…Men like you never survive for long in this world.” Freddy growled like an animal and slammed the door shut behind him.


	39. The Third Night

The next shift greeted Frederick and Chamille with silence. When they had walked into the building, no one was walking out to greet them at the shift change; not even the two gossiping women from before. The office lobby had seemed to take on a different aura, now filled with distain and hate instead of the usual feeling of neutrality.

Chamille stood in front of the security office door and froze, her hand on the doorknob and her eyes wide. Freddy moved towards her and found the source of her stasis; a heavy copper smell wafting from the door. He growled a bit and pushed her back gently to be behind him as he grabbed the handle and turned, pulling back a stuck door that should be swinging freely. He looked in the crack and immediately shoved the door shut, pulling out his phone and dialing the emergency number. Chamille opened her mouth to ask a question, but the irony copper smell crept into her lungs and made her choke on the scent, forcing her eyes to shut and her body to bend over. When she was able to open her eyes again, she saw a dark-colored smear under the door where it had been opened, like what would happened in snow when you pushed against it.

“1519 Underbridge Ln. in Lake Crystalline.” Freddy’s voice was clear and crisp while on the phone, as if reporting to his XO, “Please hurry, there’s been a murder.”

Murder. MURDER?!

Chamille reeled and looked back at the door smear, turning on her phone’s flashlight. The dark color went from brown to a dark red, resembling old blood that had coagulated. Her mind shut down on itself, leaving her body to move on auto-pilot. She had seen the murder mystery tv shows, played video games, but no media could ever prepare her for the smell. Freddy stayed on his phone and looked over at Chamille, watching her like a protective force. The moment he saw her knees buckle was the moment he grabbed her upper arm and lifted it around his shoulder, walking slowly towards the couch in the lobby.

“Chamille, stay here. I’m going to meet them out front. Call Kris and let him know that you won’t be working for a while.” He turned the phone mouthpiece away and sat her down gently on the large couch, leaving to prop the front doors open. Chamille watched him leave before her mind caught up with what he said, pulling out her own phone and calling Kris. It rang for a few moments before a groggy Kris picked up the line.

“Yellow?”

“Kris…umm…hi.”

“Hey, what’s going on, Chammie?” A yawn threatened to stop him from talking, but he pressed through it.

“There…Freddy is calling the police department.”

“…You have to give me more than that, kitten. Don’t make me ask more questions than I need to.”

“Sorry, just trying to figure out how to say it…There’s been a murder at my job site…in the security office. The police are on their way and Freddy told me to tell you that I may not be working for a while.” Her mind finally working at full speed, Chamille was able to piece together a cohesive sentence.

“Shit, are you okay?” Kris practically yelled through the phone.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just…I can taste copper.”

“That’s definitely the smell of blood. Do you know what’s going on? Do I need to pick you up?” 

“I don’t know yet. The police are still on…” Chamille cut herself off as 2 police officers walked into the building with guns drawn, Freddy following behind only to point to the security office door, “No, they’re here. I’ll call you shortly. I love you!”

“I love you, too.” He sighed. Chamille stood up and went to Freddy, looking around him as the officers pulled the door wide open. The smell hit everyone first, with Chamille being the only one to recoil backwards with a hand over her mouth. The air was heavy with blood and viscera, thick with the smell and seemed to weigh down on their shoulders. Sight hit secondary, leaving the room speechless.

Inside, the security room didn’t seem to exist. It was covered from wall to wall in dark red, splattered over the camera monitors and the desk and it still seemed wet. The floor was a little pool, only a few centimeters deep but enough that opening the door wide started a little cascade into the space behind the receptionist desk. In the middle of the room, leaning on the command console desk, were 2 slumped bodies covered in red. Freddy put his hand over his mouth to not make a sound, but he recognized the 2 gossiping women.

After all, the first shift were the only ones allowed to wear a security uniform.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update is 05/03  
> WARNING: NEXT CHAPTER HAS GRAPHIC DETAILS


	40. Three Isn't So Lucky

‘Beatrice smirked at Diana, laughing internally at how stupid she was. Bea knew that Di was sleeping with her boyfriend, she just needed to find the evidence that was most certainly there. Di focused on the cameras and prattled on and on about how loving her husband was, how they had planned to retire soon at the age of 39, how she had turned in her 2-weeks notice.

‘Stupid bitch. How DARE she call Bea’s boyfriend HER HUSBAND!

‘She played with her silver shield over her left breast, thinking about how to wring the info out of the broad when the power flickered before dying in the building.

‘“Shit. Bea, can you grab the flashlight? I need to kick the generator again. 5th time this week! You’d think that 2nd shift would put in that work order already.” Di called out from the darkness, fumbling for her phone.

‘“Yeah, they’re too busy fucking each other in here! They even left stains on the corner desk last time! Stupid bitch got it good, I bet.” Bea laughed shrilly, grabbed the flashlight and turning it on. Despite it being sunny outside, the security office had no exterior windows, fully relying on the power to stay lit. Bea handed the flashlight to Di and the woman walked off, leaving Bea alone in the darker room. Di was gone for a few moments before the power came flickering back on, revealing the security room in its glory again.

‘“Fuck, I hate that generator. Limited power, my ass, Bob. Just flip the switch a few times and it’s pumping enough juice to fuel a power plant!” Di strolled in triumphantly, setting the flashlight down and playfully bouncing her boobs all the way to her seat. Bea fumed.

‘“Yeah, it’s like the generator needs a boyfriend or something to keep it powered up all the time.” She rolled her eyes so hard that Di could’ve heard it if she was paying attention.

‘“Speaking of boyfriend, how do you think that 3rd shift guy is in bed?”

‘“Who, Dave?”

‘“Yeah, he’s really attractive…like I could fuck him in bed while my husband watched and I wouldn’t care.” Diana sighed and leaned on the desk.

‘“You would fuck anyone while your 'husband' watched.” Bea laughed along.

‘“You’re totally right!”

‘The power flicked again, dousing the room in darkness before lifting it in a violent flash of brilliance. Both women shielded their eyes as the power came back on, unprepared for the short dip. When they opened them, they stared at a shadowy figure standing in front of the camera monitors. The shadows moved like ink, the head hovering just under the ceiling tiles and craned its neck to look down at them, already hunched over from the lower ceiling. Its fingertips were touching the floor, the lanky arms slack and thin.

‘“What the fuck are you?” Bea threw her water bottle at the figure, hitting it with a plop before the bottle sank into the body. A crimson smile cracked its face with jagged sharp teeth, moving down towards them.

‘“Bitch, run!” Di tried to jump out of her seat, but a taloned hand caught her and held her in place. Bea had the same luck, forced to sit in the seat next to her. A sound pierced the silence of the room, starting slowly but building up steam and volume as time when on. It grew louder and louder, a sound like someone would hear when their ears rang or a concussion grenade went off next to a soldier. The women’s screams were drowned out by the ringing sound, blood starting to trickle out of their ears and eyes. The louder the sound grew, the more they bled through their various facial openings; noses, mouths, fingernails, and even the lower body orifices.

‘Their screams became jumbled as the blood heated up in their throats, the vocal muscles tearing and expanding. Before long, the sound reached its highest volume and their bodies popped like a balloon being poked with a needle. Bright red blood splattered everywhere across the room, covering everything with every last drop they had. The creature lifted its hands from the slumped shrapnel of the torn flesh sacks and closed its mouth, sealing the crimson and the sound inside it before melting into the camera monitors.’

Chamille woke up screaming.


	41. The Glass House, Shattered

Strong arms held her close to a solid object, a hand in comfort on her head. Chamille took a few moments to calm down and swallowed deep breaths as she saw Kris kneeling next to her on the floor. He pulled away and helped her lay back down on the couch, a slight smile on his lips.

“Hey there, sleepyhead. I came as soon as I could.”

“Kris…what are you doing here?” Chamille rubbed her eyes, trying to figure out what happened.

“I called him using your phone.” The familiar deep voice of Freddy claimed his presence before he walked into her field of vision. He looked tired but still stood strong.

“Oh…I would’ve liked to hear that conversation.”

“There wasn’t much of one. He told me you fainted at work and would need me to be there.” Kris moved closer and kissed Chamille’s forehead, “I know you, Chammie.”

“Good. I didn’t want to see you guys fighting over something silly.” She started to sit up on the couch, her mind a little more collected, “Sorry for fainting, Freddy.”

“It’s not the fainting I’m worried about, it was how you woke up. What happened?” He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall opposite the couch, giving her and Kris plenty of room. Chamille closed her eyes and tried piecing together the dream she had. No, not a dream…it was a story being told to her by someone who had seen it happen.

“I don’t know for sure…but I think I saw what happened to Diana and Beatrice.”

Freddy froze, his eyes glued to her face, “How did you know their names?”

“Through my dream?” Chamille thought hard about why those two names stuck out, but couldn’t find another reason, “I think something had seen it happen and then…I experienced it?” The details were too real, too ALIVE to be anything else. She had heard the sound the creature emitted, the screams that were cut off, the comments and thoughts that were said. Was she there?

“Do you know who it was?” Freddy asked again, Kris remaining silent.

“I…I think it was the Puppet…but that’s only based on the other dream I had when I was sleeping in the office.”

“When you fell out of your chair.” Freddy clarified. He didn’t seem surprised, but rather thoughtful. Kris, however, appeared confused but kept silent.

“Yeah, it said that it would warn me. This may be that warning…”

“Or the warning came too late.” Freddy jabbed a thumb back at the security office, now swarming with detectives and caution tape. Chamille’s heart sank at the thought of her not talking to those women.

\---

Freddy left Chamille with Kris, heading towards the now defined crime scene and pushed away any thoughts of having a peaceful rest after shift. There were two detectives within the room taking samples and pictures of everything they could without fully disturbing the scene, and they were being watched over by another police officer, his nametag labeling him as Officer Garden. Freddy waited until Garden was off the radio before tapping his shoulder.

“Sorry about the wait, officer. I’m ready for my testimony.”

“Are you sure you’re okay doing it here?”

“No offense…” He quickly glanced at his chevrons, “Cpl Garden, but I saw this kind of thing every once in a while in the Marines.”

Garden raised his eyebrow a little before nodding, “Alright. Tell me what you know.” He took out a pad and pen, and began writing down whatever Freddy said.

“There’s not much to say about this. Officer Branvo and I didn’t see anyone enter the building and no one left while we were heading to the security office,” He motioned towards the wide-open door, “She was about to open the door when both of us noticed a strong copper smell, so I took point and opened the door slightly just to see inside. After taking a quick glance around, I called a dispatcher to inform them to send a squad car.”

“Is Officer Branvo able to provide an account?” Garden raised an eyebrow further and watched Freddy’s face. He didn’t flinch under the gaze.

“No, sir. She’s recovering from a traumatic dream.”

“Very well.” He wrote a few more things down before looking at Freddy, “Now, you mentioned that you served in the U.S. Marines.”

Freddy sighed inwardly, “Yes, sir.”

“Is there anything that could compromise your testimony?”

“You mean post traumatic stress disorder.” Freddy almost cut him off. The way the officer flinched, Freddy guessed right, “No, I do not have severe PTSD. My counselor had cleared me for work, and I passed the background test for Bremont Security Inc.”

“I just want to cover all of the bases.”

“No offense, but the questions you’re asking make it seem like I’m the murderer in question.” He crossed his arms and looked at the scene, watching as the detectives made way for the two ambulance cots. The paramedics were given the clear by Garden and lifted the bodies onto the plastic sheeting in the cots, leaving it open for the detectives to pour over with cameras and markers. Freddy couldn’t see the faces fully but could see that their bodies seemed to have exploded on the inside, leaving a shredded corpse in its wake. After a few moments of silence, Garden was given the okay from the detectives who turned their cameras towards the desk where the bodies were slumped against. The bodies were zipped up in a preserving body bag before being wheeled out, the blood making a small spotted trail behind the cots.

“No offense is taken, but you should know that we press everyone that is at the scene of the crime.”

“I understand. It’s your job.” Freddy nodded and took a step away from the room, allowing the detectives to finish their job unhindered. He took out his cellphone and realized that he had to tell Charlotte and David what happened. Pressing a few buttons, he put the earpiece up and rubbed his eyes as the old woman answered her line.


	42. The Silence After

“Freddy! How are you, dearie?” Charlotte’s happy voice answered the call, breaking the dreary tension slightly.

“Not so well, ma’am. There’s been a double murder here, in the security office. I just gave my eyewitness account to the detective on site here, and Chamille will be doing the same after she recovers.”

“Oh, my! What happened to her?”

“Nothing serious, just a simple faint spell is all. I apologize for breaking post orders, but I figured given the circumstances that it would be acceptable to have her significant other here for her. I will take the blame if there is any to be had.” Freddy walked outside of the building, looking up at the sky now pregnant with heavy and dark storm clouds. If it was a supernatural force that killed the two women, the storm would probably be enough energy for it to kill again.

“No, that’s fine. So, who was killed? I’ll be on my way there shortly, but curiosity has got a hold on these old bones of mine.” He heard a shuffling before a door closed on the other side of the call.

“Both first shift officers. It’s pretty gruesome, but the detectives have already given the paramedics clearance to ship the bodies off to the forensic pathologist somewhere.” He watched as the sky rumbled with thunder, the dark clouds pierced by the occasional lighting strikes inside of it.

“I see…I’ll be there in a bit.” Charlotte hung up the phone and left Freddy alone under the storm now whipping up some wind as the storm front rolled into view. It held a deadly beauty inside of it that only nature could reproduce. He tucked himself underneath the overhang of the roof near the office entrance and watched quietly as the rain crashed down suddenly, the wind like a creature howling in his ears.

Freddy shrugged his shoulders, stretching them a bit before turning back into the offices. Making his way towards Chamille and Kris, he saw that Officer Garden was standing next to her, writing notes as she told them what she could about what happened when she walked in. He sat on the opposite couch and waited, hearing her repeat everything that he had said.

“Now, your colleague said that you were recovering from a ‘traumatic dream’. This is more from curiosity than a legal standpoint, but what kind of dream was it?” Garden asked, his pen still on the pad. Freddy sucked in a breath, biting his tongue and glaring at the officer. This was bait for insanity; he could only hope that Chamille saw through it.

“Well…” She glanced at the pen and pad, “Just an exaggeration of what really happened. You know how some dreams are when you’re scared.”

“I understand, but can you tell me what you saw?” The pen wasn’t removed from the paper.

“No, not really. Curiosity shouldn’t be counted towards my witness account.” She pointed at the pen, looking right at the officer. He wrote something down anyway and Freddy saw Kris bristle, his shoulders puffing up and his gaze growing darker.

“Alright, then. Thank you for your time.” Garden left and went back to the security office, casting an occasional glance back at Freddy and Chamille.

“You did well.” Freddy moved towards the couple, “Now, hopefully we won’t have whatever he wrote down tried against us.”

“Sorry…I didn’t really trust him.” Chamille rubbed her thumbs together, looking upset.

“You don’t need to. He’s just doing his job…although, he looked like he’s trying to frame one of you for doing this.” Kris sighed, folding his arms together and pouting.

“Charlotte is on her way, so that means David may make his way here, too. If you’re finished, you can probably ask the officer for permission to leave.” Freddy looked at his phone, seeing that it’s been about 9 minutes since the call.

“No. I’m done running. If he wants to mess with me, let him try.” She clenched her fists and gave Freddy a stern look, as if trying to convince him that she would be okay.

“Well, I’m glad you’re done running. I was getting tired of chasing you down.”

Freddy closed his mouth in the middle of a response, hearing David’s voice from the doorway. Kris noticed Chamille tense a little, but didn’t move to do anything.

“You know, you have a nasty habit of popping up at the worst times.” Freddy spun on his heel and faced David, who was closing up an umbrella and smirking at him.

“It runs in my blood, I guess. Charlotte called me and told me to scope out the situation here. This better be good, I crawled out of my comfortable bed for this.” He leaned the umbrella against the other couch and looked towards the security center, his eyes wide a little as he took in the scene that was granted to him from his vantage point, “Well…someone had their period bad.”

“…They’re dead, you asshat.” Kris interjected. David only gave him a glance in response, focusing back on the blood room. He seemed to stand a bit taller, moving his head a bit to crack some joints.

“Yeah, this is pretty bad. It wasn’t you guys, right?”

“No.” Freddy responded dryly.

“Alright, I just wanted to make sure…” David turned back towards them, sitting in the opposite couch was a movement that could only be defined as liquid, “…that no one here is capable of that kind of…” It looked like he bit down on a word and found a different one instead, “mess.”

“No one can, I’d like to think.” Chamille vouched quietly, the itch in the back of her head strong again.


	43. Voices Unheard

“That’s what I like about you, Chammie.” David smiled at her, but Kris growled and stepped up to the man.

“You don’t have any right to call her that.”

“Why not? I’m her work friend.” He shrugged, the smile faltering a little bit but still staying confident.

“No, you’re a stalker that only seems to want to get into her pants. You’re no friend of hers, and I’ve never heard a good thing about you since you started working here.” Kris frowned and looked down at the other man, only a few inches above him, “It seems to me that you’re more of a menace.”

“And who would you be?” David appeared to be agitated with this new person, and Freddy hid a smirk behind his hand as he watched from the sidelines.

“I’m Chamille’s fiancé and quite frankly, I’m glad I can see the man who’s been dogging my beloved at work. You’re a slimy snake, aren’t you?” Kris’ words became barbed and hurled themselves at David, whose smirk became a slight snarl on his lips.

“You have no business being here, so I will escort you off the property.”

“Actually, I’ve already talked with Charlotte about him being here and she said that it was no issue due to the circumstances.” Freddy interjected, enjoying this man being pressed under a thumb. David held his ground for a few moments before shaking his head, his eyes a hardened jade again.

“Alright then.” A complete calm fell over David, his body standing straight instead of slouched over a bit, “I’ll attend to the scene and see if the officers are in need of anything else, or of any access into the building.” He rubbed the back of his neck before sending a glare at Kris, who remained in front of Chamille.

\---

“Oh, my!” Charlotte exclaimed as she was escorted into the building by Chamille, looking at the security office, “This does look awful!”

“Would you like to go to your office, ma’am?” Chamille offered, thankful that David was giving her a wide berth since the confrontation with him and Kris.

“Absolutely, I need to speak with Fredbear about this!” The excitable old woman hobbled towards her office, the walking cane helping her along. After closing the office door, Chamille stood by the door for a bit as her curiosity grabbed a hold of her. They had never listened into the office while Charlotte was alone, but was she actually going to be talking with that suit?

“Freddie! What the hell happened when I was gone?!” Her voice was loud enough through the door that Chamille didn’t need to hover over it. There was another voice in there, but it was so quiet she couldn’t make out what it was saying.

“Yes, I saw…those poor women…” A heavy pause, “You found another?” Pause, “No, he’s too nice to play your little games. I’m old, Freddie, not stupid.”

The itch in the back of Chamille’s head grew with such an intensity that she thought she would scratch her brains out.

“Not her, either. Maybe later when this all soothes over. Have you contacted the others?” Others? “Alright, then. Pay them off if you can. I can’t believe this has happened again…I brought you here to stop this kind of thing! Don’t you give me any lip, Freddie dear!”

Chamille’s mind reeled as she tried to piece together what she was hearing, her back against the wall next to the office door.

“Fine…if you say you did, I’ll believe you.” There was a creak, like someone had sat down on a chair heavily, “I’m sorry this has happened again, papa…Yes, I’ll be fine. Why can’t I retire like a regular person?”


	44. After The Storm

Chamille sat at home after the police gave her clearance to leave, along with everyone else in the building. She stared at the ceiling for a bit while mulling things over in her head about what she heard in Charlotte’s office. Kris had left her to her own devices, listening to quiet music and playing a different video game on his computer. She looked towards her phone sitting on the table in front of her but it didn’t make a sound or light up. The thought of calling Freddy had crossed her mind, to see if he was willing to meet up and just talk like they used to. Sleep evaded her like a shadow in the daylight and left Chamille not willing to do much.

Her scheduling manager had called her when she had come home, telling her to wait before asking for a transfer. He wanted to keep her there, was told that she and Freddy were the best guards there, and only mentioned being out of work for a week but with pay. It didn’t make sense to her, but nothing really did in regards to the site she was working. Supernatural phenomenon, a double murder, a stalker, a CEO who didn’t really act like a CEO; none of the puzzle pieces were adding up in the big picture. Everything that she and Freddy had found seemed connected to FNAF, or was it the other way around? She shook her head slighty; her blank stare wandering to her phone again.

\---

Freddy sat in his basement, panting and sweat dripping down his body. His hands throbbed from the tight wrappings around his wrist and palms, but he couldn’t offer relief just yet. Curling them up again, he pumped his fists into a punching bag dangling from a support beam in the ceiling, his anger and frustration seeping through. Throwing in a few kicks for good measure, he plopped down onto a bench heavily; grabbing his large water bottle and downing the rest of it before unwrapping his hands. His mind was clear and focused but it kept wandering to David, the thing that always crept into his mind. Freddy was convinced that David was hiding something, but he couldn’t imagine a human doing this to 2 other people.

‘Overheated from the inside out’ was what a detective said at the scene this afternoon, ‘blood wasn’t very hot, but the body seemed to be cooking’ the other one commented. It reminded him of what he saw in a split moment in time when a suicide bomber had ran towards his company’s auto checkpoint. The idiot pulled the strings and tripped, tumbling head over heels onto the ground, only having a moment to scramble back on his way before the bombs strapped to his body shredded everything within a 15 meter radius. The explosion sent shrapnel into a Humvee and pushed a soldier over with the force it exerted, but the guy never got close enough to do any real damage.

“Honey?” Amy’s voice called from the top of the staircase, “Are you almost finished?”

“Yeah…I’m done.” He tossed the wrappings on the bench, letting them air out and making note that he’d have to clean them after their next use. Dragging his sore body up the stairs was a chore, but he was greeted with open windows allowing a fresh breeze to flow through the first floor of the house, “What’s going on?”

“You’ve been down there for about 2 hours. It almost sounded like you were giving birth!” She poked his side, taking his water bottle and refilling it with cold water from the fridge.

“Did I really sound like that?” He took it back from her extended hand and downed another half of it, wincing a little as the cold liquid tumbled down his throat and into his empty stomach.

“No, but it did leave a lot to the imagination.” She went back to attending the veggies she was washing, “Considering you came home at 1800 instead of 2132, I’m wondering what happened at your work.”

“Oh…” Freddy put the bottle down on the little dining table in the kitchen, taking his shirt and wiping his forehead with the bottom of it.

“You just came home, told me you’d be downstairs, and then disappeared. Did something go wrong?” She paused, “Well, obviously something went wrong. You’re home early.”

He chuckled a little, “It’s…under investigation right now. Two people were…killed in the security office, and Chamille and I were the ones who discovered them.” A shatter made his head jerk up from the floor to his wife, staring at him in shock and horror. At her feet lay the glass bowl of squash and cucumbers, unusable now.

“Oh, my stars! Are you okay?!” She left them on the floor and was instantly at his side, holding his face in her hands and looking over him with scrutinizing eyes.

“Yes, I’m…” Freddy started before she looked him dead in the eyes, “No, I’m not. It was hard seeing it.”

“Go and take a shower, I’ll clean this up.” Amy had taken a good look at him before speaking, “I’ll just change our dinner from veggie spaghetti to something else.”

“Amy…what is it?” He stood up and grabbed her, pulling her against his chest and holding her close from behind, “You don’t really need to worry about me. I’ll be alright.”

“No, I do need to worry about you!” Her hands trembled as they held onto his arms over her chest, “Everyone says that it’s such a miracle that you came out with a clear mind from your last tour, but there are doubts in my head saying that you’ll snap and I’ll have to walk on eggshells around you! I can’t stand the thought of that!” Her voice hitched as the tears started, “I love you, Frederick, and I am happy that you’re safe…”

Freddy said nothing and just held her, letting her cry and supporting her as she calmed down. He leaned his head down to the cradle of her neck, kissing it gently, “Amelia, you’ve watched over me my whole tour. Through your crafted planes, I saw your eyes and hands protecting me every step of the way. You and your amazing team has made sure that no one in my company came back with terrifying memories of monsters that call themselves humans.”

“Oh, stop. Now you’re just flattering me.” He could hear her say through a smile.

“It’s true, though! I swear that those F-22s tore through the sky like they were barely breaking a sweat!”

“That’s because they were being piloted by aces.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t because of the trim design you forwarded to your Boeing project manager? Or the difference a part of your team made with the slimmer fuselage?” He pressed, unwrapping his arms and poking her lightly in the side, “Because I think that was all you.”

“Okay, okay! You win this one…” She leaned back into him, and he stayed firm in his stance to hold most of her weight, “Just get yourself cleaned off and I’ll prepare dinner.”

He nodded and skirted around the mess of glass and veggies, “I love you, my skies.”

“I love you, too, my stars.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update is 05/10


	45. A Meeting In Progress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo! 165 hits and 10 kudos?! Thank you all so much for hanging in there with me!

The days had turned into a long week, leaving both Chamille and Freddy with near cabin fever. They both had found ways to stave the boredom off, but were more than happy to receive the news on a Tuesday that their site had been cleaned up and was ready for them to start again.

\---

Chamille could only look at the building before taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it. She had wanted to forget that she had seen the blood-soaked security office, but couldn’t erase the image from her mind despite all of the attempts to forget it. She waited for Freddy’s truck to pull up next to her before she left her own.

“Hey, Chammie. Are you doing alright?” He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder in a light pat.

“Yeah…kinda, I guess.” She shrugged after he lifted his hand, “Do you know…when they’ll hold the funerals?”

“I don’t know. That’s up to the families, if they’ll have a funeral at all.” Freddy watched her as they made their way inside. The security office door opened to reveal a spotless command center, with Mark and Jack back at the controls. They looked a little shaken, but Freddy imagined that it was because of what had happened in the office last week.

“You’re all good. Nothing to report.” Mark nodded his head as they traded places, “Outside of a few power flickers, there’s nothing going on.”

“Thank you.” Chamille answered as they left the office, the door sealing them in the white room. There was no trace of blood left from the crime scene, and seemingly the equipment was replaced with newer models. Freddy took a quick glance about and didn’t see anything out of place. They settled into their rhythm slowly, the smallest sounds startling Chamille until Freddy convinced her that there was nothing that could happen to her.

A few hours passed and there was a soft knock on the door, the camera positioned there revealing Charlotte leaning on her cane, waiting by the door patiently. Chamille opened it up and Charlotte smiled at her.

“Just the person I was hoping to see!”

“What can we help you with, ma’am?” Freddy called out before Chamille could answer.

“Oh, I just need to borrow Ms. Chamille for a little bit. Bremont Security Inc. want me to do bi-yearly work reviews now, so I was hoping to start with her.” Charlotte looked at Freddy, meeting his eyes and holding the gaze.

Freddy remained quiet before taking a slow breath, “Don’t take her for too long. We have a scheduled patrol coming up in about 20 minutes.”

“I’ll have her back before then.” The elder woman smiled and took a step back, allowing Chamille to walk in front of her. They made their way to the office quietly, the silence like a constant ringing in Chamille’s ear. When they finally reached the door, the itch was starting to form again but not as vicious as last time.

“Come on in, dearie. Take a seat.” Charlotte opened the door for Chamille to see David sitting there, watching her and waving a friendly hand.


	46. These Questions Are Unanswered

“Ms. Charlotte, I thought this was a review?” Chamille didn’t take a step into the office, now appearing like a pit of snakes.

“It is, but David had asked if he could say a few things first before I give you your review.” Charlotte made her way to her chair, patting Fredbear on its head as she passed. She couldn’t take her eyes off of David, and he watched Charlotte as she moved into her office. A slight scowl passed over his lips when she made contact with the fur suit, but his eyes never shifted from their sharpened jade color; whoever David was, those were his true eyes. Freddy’s words emerged in her mind about their very first theory together.

“Oh…well, what are your questions?” She didn’t move from outside of the office, despite feeling that something was watching her from somewhere. David turned his full attention back at Chamille, jade meeting hazel and holding the gaze. Something seemed to click in him and he rolled his shoulders a bit, not breaking the eye contact.

“Don’t jump the gun too quickly, Chammie. I only want to confirm a few things that I’ve heard from hearsay.” He took a deep breath, stretching out his lungs, and releasing it slowly through his nose, “Are you and Frederick having an inter-work relationship?”

“No. We maintain a strict work friendship, and it does not extend past that.” Chamille narrowed her eyes, not wanting to break eye contact with the man in front of her.

“Does this work ‘friendship’ include having sex while on site premises?”

“What?! No! We have not had any sexual contact or intercourse of any kind!” She flushed, thrown into a mental corner she wasn’t prepared to visit. As much as she liked working with Freddy, she knew he was married and didn’t want to touch that relationship with any kind of stick she could find.

“You seem a little defensive on that one…” David smiled, before a sharp rap on the desk behind him startled them out of their stances.

“David Miller! How dare you ask such personal questions! I suggest that you keep your last one to yourself. Out of my office.” Charlotte’s voice took a stern tone, shaking the air around them. David winced and fully faced Charlotte.

“Listen here, Charlie…” His voice grew dark, but was interrupted before anything else could be said.

“I said, ‘out of my office’!” Charlotte stood up too swiftly for an older woman, leaning over the desk and glaring at David. He didn’t move for a while but soon stood and left the office, pushing past Chamille. A tense moment passed before Charlotte loudly exhaled, “Too much excitement for my age is bad…I’m sorry about that, Chamille. I didn’t think his questions would be that personal.” She slowly lowered herself back into her chair, rubbing her hand on Fredbear’s head.

“I…didn’t think you would know.” She slowly walked into the office, sitting on the seat next to where David used to be. The woman rubbed her temples before casting a glance at Fredbear, slightly nodding.

“If you’re comfortable enough, I can give you your bi-yearly review.” She pulled out a slender manila folder from a desk drawer with Chamille’s full name on the tab. It was a bit thicker than her last review, but as it was opened, Chamille saw all of the daily activity sheets that she had turned in. Fishing towards the middle of the stack, Charlotte pulled out a sheet with a few checkmarks in red on them.

“You can go ahead.” Charlotte nodded and proceeded to tell Chamille how her progress was. There were a few hiccups, such as her falling asleep for most of her shift and leaving early a few shifts. Chamille was able to explain the reasons as to why those happened, but never went into full detail about her dream or why she left early. The early leaves were partially excused, but the shift sleeping was not and she received a verbal warning about it.

\---

Freddy watched David as he left the building, splitting his cameras between his visual sweep of the warehouse and following David out. The man got to his car but then sat there for about 10 minutes before turning on the running lights and driving off of the lot, waving to the gate guard. Freddy sighed as he switched back to the warehouse cameras, noticing a slight power flicker in one of the rooms. He marked down the location and time it happened before moving to the next camera.


	47. Time For A Serious Conversation

Chamille sighed and collapsed on the chair next to Freddy, her arms propping herself up on the desk. Freddy glanced over and waited for her to say something to break the silence.

“Ugh…” She groaned louder this time, taking in a breath before speaking, “That could’ve gone better.”

“Were you waiting for me to ask about it, or should I allow you to say what happened?”

“No, I’ll say it. I’m just trying to figure out what happened, is all…” She scratched her head and tapped a finger a few times on the desk, “Okay. I think I got it. Charlotte asked me to go in for a bi-yearly review and when we arrived at her office, David was there wanting to ask a few questions before she got started. When he asked about us having sex, Charlotte sent him out of the office and continued with the review. I got a passing grade, but was still in trouble about falling asleep during shift.”

“Hold on…he thinks we’re sleeping with each other?” He put a hand over his mouth, barely holding in a laughing fit.

“Yeah, according to some rumors about us.” Chamille nodded with a slight reddish tint on her cheeks. This seemed to break Freddy, bursting out laughing and pounding his hand on the desk. She couldn’t hold back her own laughter and joined in with his, covering her face with her hands.

“People have a lot of imagination, don’t they?” Freddy gasped in between laughs, “Geez…”

They had managed to recover from the laughter, using it as an escape from the recent events. The atmosphere in the room had managed to be lightened a little bit afterwards, and the two recovered a bit to talk of other things that they enjoyed. Freddy had found out that Chamille and Kris were planning a week-long vacation to visit Big Mamie and Old Ironsides on the east coast. He had mentioned that he wanted to go, and she volunteered to take a lot pictures to show him.

\---

Mark and Jack relieved their post, allowing Freddy and Chamille to go their separate ways and head home. Happy about the new schedule that was posted, she didn’t have to worry about when David was going to be working and could plan around the days he did work. Freddy stayed behind, talking on the phone with Gunner about some plans, but he said that she could go home and enjoy Kris’ company.

The remaining days passed slowly, only to speed up when Friday afternoon hit. Freddy had received his bi-yearly review and passed with flying colors, turning down an offer to work a solo post on 3rd shift. When Chamille found out, he explained that the situation would’ve most likely left her with David as a partner; she happily accepted the fact that he declined the position.

When Friday evening came around, Chamille was busy reading an e-book on her phone and distracted when a knock sounded on the office door, opening to reveal David. He kept his usual smile but his body language seemed off, which caught Freddy off-guard. Instead of standing tall, he was a little slumped over with a slightly raised shoulder. He looked completely different since Wednesday.

David made no comment as the door slowed to a halt, shuffling over to the corner desk and sitting down in silence. Chamille glanced at Freddy for any sort of clue as to what she should do but he gave her nothing to go off of. The command center became quiet, holding a breath of its own, as the itch in Chamille’s head grew slightly. She reached back to rub the spot with the pads of her fingers instead of the nails, but that was the only movement she made.

“Do you both believe in the supernatural?” The question jolted them from their thought processes. David looked briefly at Chamille before settling on Freddy, his eyes moving from clouded green to a sharp jade.

“I’ve seen some evidence to support that there are inhuman forces.” Freddy answered without blinking or breaking eye contact. He was not going to give this man the upper hand in this conversation, Freddy couldn’t let it happen when Chamille was around.

“And you?” The jade gaze turned to Chamille, meeting her swirled hazel eyes again and holding them in its grip.

“I know there are…some things that can’t be explained with modern science.”

“Good…so you both know this place is haunted.” David rolled his shoulders and sat up a little more. His body seemed to realign itself as he did, the shoulder lowering and his head raising a little higher. There was a loud crack as he tilted his head to the left and right, rubbing the back of his neck, “This will be easier, then.”

“What do you mean?” Freddy stood up and made a move towards him, only taking one step before David’s eyes settled on him again. It seemed like the world pressed down on Freddy, stopping him in his tracks as an unseen presence threatened to snuff his life light out. His skin broke out into a cold sweat but his mind remained sharp under fire, only knowing this feeling from one other time; the black shadow creature in the warehouse.

“I mean that there are ghosts that are living here. They choose to play with us when they’re bored, to trick us when it conveniences them, and they can kill us when we offend them.” David stood up and walked over to Freddy, putting his hand on his shoulder while holding eye contact with the taller man, “You seem a little pale, friend.”

“You’re not my friend, David…you have no evidence to your claim.” Freddy tried to shrug the hand off, but his body stopped responding to him. A feeling of dread washed over him like a cloak, the air becoming too thick to breath. A sweat drop fell into Freddy’s left eye but he refused to close it, staring at the man in front of him that had turned from prey into predator.

“Are you saying that those 2 women were murdered by a ghost?” Chamille put her phone down and thought back to what she could remember of the dream, the two female uniformed guards popping like balloons. Freddy mentally screamed at her, seeing the winning smile creep over David’s face before taking his hand off of Freddy's shoulder and moving towards her.

“Precisely.”


	48. The Fourth Night

Chamille took a step back involuntarily, realizing the position that she was in. David stood between her and Freddy, squarely in the middle by the command console, and her back was facing the wall with the hidden corner door leading to the warehouse. The two men had seemed to hold the other’s attention long enough for her to make a move to open an escape route; she had missed her chance. The looming threat of a man coming closer with another step seemed to swallow her whole, the back of her head itching like crazy.

“The clues were there all along. We were just blind to it.” David spread his arms in a mock shrug, stopping himself from continuing towards Chamille, “Now, we’re caught up in it.”

“How do you know…?” Her words hung in the air like a soft whisper. David’s smile dropped, his arms lowering slightly but Chamille pressed on, “How do you know that they were killed by ghosts?”

“It’s more like speculation.” He drew a hand up to his chin, folding the other underneath to support that arm. The presence that she felt suddenly lifted, the itching still there but less pronounced. Freddy glanced around him quickly, feeling the weight lifting off of his shoulders.

“Then keep it as speculation until this case is closed.” Chamille grabbed her phone from the table, walking around David and headed towards the door. A sharp tug was felt on her ankle, and her next view was a detailed picture of the floor tiles. An explosion of pain erupted from her face, a numbness blanketing it afterwards. She raised a shaky hand to her nose, pulling it back when she felt a stub on her face to see her fingers coated in red chunky jello. No, not jello; blood. Her blood.

“That’s it, you mother…”

\---

“…FUCKER!” Freddy swiftly unleashed his pent up wrath and rage into a single punch aimed at David’s face, hoping to catch it as the other man turned around. He knew he had aimed correctly for the asshole’s mouth and he knew how much power he had put into it, but the punch was thrown wide as if slapped aside by some force. Knocked partially off-balance, Freddy took a step forward into an opposing open-palmed strike to his gut.

“Self-defense.”

Freddy was sent reeling backwards, trying to not step on his co-worker on the ground struggling to get up. He grabbed his stomach and mouth, holding in the bile threatening to rise like a fountain of fluid. His mind finally caught up with what happened; his punch wasn’t thrown wide. If only for a brief moment, Freddy saw a black shadow hand slap his punch away while David wound up for the hit. The strike itself was more powerful than it should be, as if being delivered by a jackhammer.

“What the fuck…?” He looked up at David when his stomach control returned. The other man only seemed to be partially distraught about the events, brushing off his shirt like he touched dirt.

“An eye for an eye, Banjo. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get to work.” He went to the command console and pulled the switchboard over, only glancing at Chamille. Freddy growled and wanted to hit him a second time, but bit down on the anger and helped Chamille up to her feet. She was still reeling from her head collision, but steady enough to walk on her own power.

“Better clean that up, or Charlotte will start asking questions.” Freddy slammed the door with his foot behind them, taking Chamille’s phone and calling Kris’ number. There was no answer so Freddy decided to leave a voicemail, telling him that Chamille fell down at work and that he would have Amy take care of her at his house. He left the address and opened the back door to his truck, gently laying Chamille down on it and draping his light jacket over her chest. He drove home as he slowly watched Chamille close her eyes, and he encouraged her to sleep on the way back.

\---

Amy glanced at the clock to see the arms at 2141, and looked back at the dinner she made. It was Freddy’s birthday, so she made his favorite meal of hers: full rack ribs with his favorite bbq sauce, grilled veggies from her garden, and homemade mashed potatoes with Sam Adams seasonal brew to wash it all down. The cheesecake dessert would finish chilling in 49 minutes, leaving ample time for the dinner to be digested. She had managed to hide the ribs from Freddy with the help of Peter (Window), and she couldn’t wait to see his reaction.

“Come on, you prick. You can’t be late to our anniversary AND your birthday…” Amy sighed loudly before cutting herself off when headlights flooded the living room. She rushed out to the front door with a simple birthday card in her hand to see him carry another woman from the back bench of his truck. Her breath hitched but her eyes caught the bloody sight on the woman’s face, dropping the card on the floor. She nearly pulled the front door off of its hinges and ran to him, holding out her arms to hold the younger woman.

“Amy, sorry for this. Can you help clean her up?” Freddy looked like he was in pain, but Amy tore her sight from him back to the woman in her arms.

“Yeah.”

“Thanks…” His voice hitched and broke, but he was able to make it inside the house and hobbled to their bedroom. Amy made her way into the guest bathroom and started to fill the tub with warm water, finally able to take a look at the human in her arms. Glancing over the details, she was able to piece together that this must be Chamille Branvo, Freddy’s coworker. This definitely wasn’t the worse case she’s seen with maxillofacial trauma. Turning off the tub, she grabbed a washcloth and soaked it while propping up Chamille’s head on her knees, slowly applying the cloth first around the nose then under it. Amy released a breath she had been holding when she saw no additional blood replace what she cleaned.

There was a slow knock at the door, “Amy, I’m sorry…May I come in?”

“Yeah, you can. I’m not mad at you, just worried about what happened.” She looked up as Freddy peeked his head in. His eyes were puffy; he had been crying.

“It…was just a workplace accident. She tripped and didn’t catch herself in time.”

“I’ll believe that for now.” Amy sighed and continued to clean up Chamille’s face. The nose was a bit swollen, but didn’t appear to be fractured or broken, “Let’s put her on the couch for an hour. If she doesn’t wake up during that time, I’ll drive her to the hospital for an x-ray.”


	49. Things Are Better Left Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're freaking out about the 2 missing chapters, I've only removed the Author Notes sections. The story is still together.

‘it’s you again’

“What do you mean, Freddy? I was tripped and you ask that first?” Chamille gently touched her nose to find that it was still sore, slightly rubbing it to find nothing wrong. She opened her eyes to see a bright white room, blinding her into rapid blinking, “Ow…where am I? I’m not locked up, right?”

‘locked up?’ The quiet whisper spoke again. After shielding her eyes, Chamille felt the hard ground underneath her and slowly sat up, leaning over her now-crossed legs and slowly reintroducing the white room to her eyes again. It appeared to be a cube with no openings of any kind, and she glanced around for the speaker that the voice was talking to her from. She found no instruments of any kind in the room, but it heavily reminded her of the command center if it was stripped bare.

“Yeah…locked up as in an insane asylum. I figured that’s where David would probably send me after what happened.”

‘the one you call David is not here.’ The voice came from behind her and Chamille lowered her lids, wondering silently what it was with people and speaking from behind the other person. She stood up and turned around to face a black shadowy figure, taller than her but not reaching the ceiling like the other one. Chamille took a step back but the figure made no move to stop her, only watching her with a featureless humanoid head.

“Hi…?” 

\---

Freddy had managed to quiet Amy down from her little episode in regards to the birthday food and letting it sit out. He ate the slightly warm food with gusto, enjoying the cooking thoroughly and having a nice conversation after Amy had calmed down. He understood her thinking, though; coming home late at night with another woman in his arms is not the best start to greeting the wife after a day of work. He knew he would pay the price for it, but it wouldn’t be tonight. Despite the relief clearly on Amy’s face, they were both still worried for the young woman laying on the couch sleeping. It was 38 minutes since Amy cleaned her up.

The shirt was salvageable so they had loaned her one of Amy’s bigger shirts, tossing the bloody one into the washer after spraying the stain with WD-40. Freddy was a bit confused as to the use of it but Amy only briefly commented that she’s had to use it at her job, leaving him to put the pieces together. He glanced over at his wife across the table, sitting there and only looking at her food, before he reached out and touched her hand.

“Amy, are you alright?”

She only looked at him before glancing over towards the direction of the living room, “No…but I will be. I just wished you called when you left work to let me know.”

“I wasn’t thinking straight…”

“Frederick, you need to answer my question about what happened. A girl just doesn’t trip at work and end up at my house with a bloody nose.” Amy bit down on the mashed potatoes and looked at him in the eye, holding his gaze.

“Fine,” Freddy finally wavered, “Our shift relief was acting odd and started asking us questions in regards to…what happened last week. Chamille essentially told him to shut up, and he tripped her. I got angry and tried to punch his face in, but he somehow countered it and palmed my gut pretty hard. Sent me reeling back, and I think I kicked Chamille’s head with my heel.”

Amy finished the food in her mouth but didn’t take any more, only setting her fork down to fully listen.

“He seemed so frail that I thought I could put enough force in the punch to shatter his jaw, to send him out of the building…but it was deflected too easily.” Freddy stopped eating as well, recounting the events as he saw them.

“I didn’t see any additional head trauma, so you didn’t kick her head in with your boot.” Amy broke the brief silence afterwards, interlocking her fingers with his in reassurance, “Do you know the guy’s name?”

“Not fully…only David M.”

“You’re shitting me…” Amy started at him, the look of shock dropping for a thoughtful look that Freddy had seen numerous times before; she was rifling through her memory cabinet, “That name…he never goes by Dave, does he?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update is 05/17


	50. A Slight Hiccup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to let you all know that my schedule will be changing from Wednesday - Sunday to Monday - Friday due to a job change, with a week break in between for vacation.
> 
> TL;DR, 5/21 will be my last post until 5/29.

“What? No, I don’t think so…” Freddy thought back.

“Dave Miller…that’s what Charlotte called him in the office.” Chamille interrupted as she made her way from the living room into the dining room, leaning on the counter and rubbing her nose a little bit. Amy bolted up and went over, looking over the bruised nose and seeing no blood drip from it. She opened the freezer and gave Chamille a gel pack for the swelling, moving a seat to the table and offering a place.

“Are you sure?” Freddy cleared the table, storing the uneaten food away in the fridge and getting a glass of water for her.

“Pretty sure. She seemed upset about the questions he wanted to ask before my review, but he left when she mentioned his full name.” Chamille gently pressed the pack on the side of her nose, slowly taking a sip from the glass as she sat down at the table, “I…I had another dream.”

“Careful, I’m going to start calling you a prophet.” He teased a little before motioning for her to continue. Amy raised an eyebrow in confusion, but listened as she took her seat.

“I can’t really explain it…it was all white like the security room at work, and there was a shadowy figure again. I think this one was the nicer one from before. Anyway, it said that I failed to heed its warning so people died because of my lack of action…but then it said it would give me another warning.” Chamille took another pull from the glass, this one a bit longer, “I then saw that creepy tall one smiling from the camera screens before the dream ended.”

“…that was it?” Freddy seemed a little confused, “That one wasn’t as detailed as the others.” Chamille shook her head and finished the rest of the water. Amy folded her hands in front of her before looking at the other woman.

“To steer back to the previous topic, you’re sure that he was called Dave Miller?” Chamille nodded her head, “Then you’re all in trouble there. That’s the alias of William Afton in ‘The Silver Eyes’.”

“Really?” Freddy turned his attention back to his wife, “How was that found out in the book?”

“There’s a character called Clay Burke, and he’s a police chief that was on the case of a child disappearing before the book takes place. He finds out by comparing pictures and sees that William Afton had completely changed from then; turning into a thinner man, and practically dying on his feet.” Amy thought back to the book she had lent someone, “I always thought it was weird, though. It’s been eating at the back of my mind at how the authors wrote that one line. It’s the book Dave Miller’s introduction. The guy didn’t seem to remember his name, so I thought that he only wanted to say what was on the nametag he wore.”

Chamille’s phone rang from the front area near the door, and Freddy went to bring it to her. He saw the caller ID as ‘Kris’ and answered it right away, “This is Freddy.”

‘Hey, I got your message. Is she alright?’

“Yeah, she’s awake now. I’ll hand her the phone.” He pulled it away from his ear and handed it to her without waiting for a response. She took it happily and started talking with Kris, letting him know that she was safe and alright. After a few moments, she hung up and looked to Freddy.

“Would you drop me off at my car? I think I’m alright enough to go home.”

Freddy looked at Amy, nodding her head, “Doctor says okay, so let’s get you home.”


	51. Avoidance

Chamille sighed and gently rubbed the bridge of her nose within the comfort of her car, still sitting in the parking lot at work. She had felt bad for Amy and Freddy, not wanting them to be burdened with her being within their home but not having anything to do at her own apartment. Kris would be at work for the next 6 hours and that meant being alone.

‘It’s better than being alone instead of sitting in the parking lot here!’ Chamille mentally yelled at herself and urged her sedan to life, shifting into drive and pulling out of the lot. Grabbing a cheap burger from McDonald’s , she ate it before arriving at the apartment. Once inside the cool room, she tossed her car keys onto the table, slightly startling the cat from its slumber.

\---

Saturday morning greeted Chamille with a shifting weight next to her on the bed, stirring her as Kris started to snore. Glancing at the clock, she groaned and cursed her body for waking her up 3 minutes before her first alarm. Now forced to start her day 30 minutes early, she added eating a full breakfast to the plan and hoped that it wouldn’t take than much time to make some decent oatmeal. After filling her belly and preparing for the day, she decided to be nice to Freddy for once, thinking back to when he got her a few drinks without asking.

Settling on an iced mocha cappuccino in the drive-through, she took a small sip of her iced chai latte before heading to work. Chamille pulled into the parking lot after being cleared by the gate guard, who was still in a foul mood from when they first met, and waited patiently for Freddy to arrive. He followed in about 10 minutes later before pulling into his usual spot next to hers.

“Good afternoon, Freddy.” She got out of her car, and swirled his drink around to mix up the ice that had started to melt.

“Hey.” He pointed his finger at the chocolate brown drink in her hand, an eyebrow raised in question, “What’s the occasion?”

“Just because.” She handed it to him as they walked towards the entrance, Freddy taking a cautious pull from the straw.

“Oh, mocha.” He sounded slightly surprised and nodded in approval, “Try vanilla bean, next time.” He glanced over, giving a slight wink as if to tease her.

“No, I’m going to get you that…unicorn…thing.” She waved her hand dismissively, seeing his face fall from joking to a serious ‘please-don’t-get-me-that-ugly-drink-ever’ look.

\---

Freddy had given Chamille the camera controls for the shift, taking some time to himself and watching how she performed at the helm. She had struggled in the beginning, but managed to get a hold of the buttons and switches before lunch break came around. With her eyes busy, Freddy turned part of his focus to his phone and joined a conversation over text with Gunner and Valkyrie in regards to meeting up for dinner in a few weeks.

The shift went by smoothly and Freddy kept his eye on the phone clock, making sure to warn Chamille that their shift was over in 10 minutes. He didn’t want a repeat of last night. She agreed with him and gathered her things before opening the door towards the warehouse, hoping to swing around the perimeter of the command center and avoid David completely.


	52. Connecting The Dots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder that Sunday 5/21 will be my last post before vacation and a shift change.

Sunday night went by easier, knowing that this would be the last day of the week to avoid David at all costs. Chamille felt that she was doing something wrong by avoiding him instead of confronting the source of her problem, but Freddy had told her that David was a ticking time bomb at this point and he didn’t want to see her suffer the consequences.

The power flickered heavily around 2054 and continued for a few moments before steadying itself. Freddy had grabbed the long flashlight and started to head towards the generator to make sure it was working alright, but after a brief moment of darkness, the lights turned on. They noted it down and continued to watch until David walked through the door, not bothering to knock or announce his presence.

He seemed to be visibly upset and angry for whatever reason, practically throwing himself into the corner office chair and pulling out a book. The book itself was bound in blue-dyed leather bound by small leather straps, but offered no other note about what it was. He grumbled to himself and flipped through the pages, removing a bookmark and burying his nose into the folds of the crisp paper. Freddy and Chamille exchanged glances, taking their cues and leaving the room.

\---

The clouded jade eyes follow them out before snapping to the camera monitors on the wall. Throwing the book down onto the desk, the man snarled and jabbed a finger towards the screens.

“What was that about?”

A shadow formed from within the monitors and oozed onto the floor, gathering partially to stand around David’s height. A cracked red smile leered at him and cocked its head to the side, as if to listen to what he had to say. The body was still connected to the monitors by a large cord of darkness.

“Don’t give me that look. What happened to it?” David made no indication that he was going to step closer to it, his hand on the leather-bound book.

‘don’t understand request’

“I told you to get rid of it!”

‘wasn’t able to due to lack of knowledge’

“’Lack of…’ What was there lacking?!” He flipped open the book again and turned to the bookmarked page, glancing over it as if to find a specific sentence.

‘knowledge of conditions’

“How else am I supposed to say it? ‘I grant thee leave to cleanse this place of those that I deem unreliable. Tear those unwanting asunder and drink their essence to fuel your destruction’ That’s pretty clear to me as to what the conditions are.” He read aloud the sentence and looked back at the shadow, his eyes turning into a sharp tint of green, “Unless…it’s too powerful for you.”

The shadow seemed to wince and crawl back into the monitor a little as the smile on David’s face grew, “I figured…what do you need in order to beat it?”

‘more’

“There are 3 targets that occupy this building on a daily basis. Take your pick of them.” He shrugged and closed the book gently, watching the shadowy figure writhe and twist back into the monitor as the smile on his face was hidden by his hand covering the lower half of his face.


	53. The Last Piece Of The Puzzle

The hours turned into days as Chamille and Freddy played hide and seek with David, Chamille finding more ways to avoid him as he walked into the security office. He didn’t show any signs of caring about it and seemed to be distracted from the work harassment, always carrying that blue book with him whenever he walked in. Freddy had submitted a formal complaint to Charlotte about him, but it was never pursued farther than asking David a few questions to which he seemed to answer honestly. Chamille had tried to sneak a few peeks at what he was reading, always stared down when David caught her looking.

\---

Charlotte sat patiently in her office, typing away on her computer as quiet classic music played from it. She hummed a little to herself as she responded to the e-mails sent from Bremont Security in regards to scheduling and not being able to find a new site manager, apologizing for the fact that she had to maintain 2 businesses at the same time. Leaning back in her chair, she reached behind her and absentmindedly stroked Fredbear’s left ear before adjusting her seat and typing a lengthy response. Charlotte hated the technology, always preferring the time-consuming hand written letters of yesteryear, but she had adapted where as her friends had tried.

“Fred, dearie, have you been keeping an eye on this power business?”

“No, but I have noticed it picking up a little.” The voice rang out in her head, answering her question.

“We have a back-up generator but it seems that it’s been running more and more lately. Are you able to check up on it sometime?” She hit ‘send’ on the e-mail and watched the moving icon display a paper airplane fly into the worldwide web icon. After a few seconds, a big green checkmark appeared in its place.

“I can certainly try. I’ll check up on it during the night time, so I don’t leave you lonely.” He chuckled, to laugh at a joke only he knew about.

“Oh, I’m never lonely. I’m here all the time with you, it seems.” She glanced up at the only picture framed on her desk, causing a small smile to appear on her lips. It was of her aging father, right before he was found dead in his home office. She was ushered out of the home after she barged into it, demanding to see him, but only being a 37-year-old at the time with no position in his company didn’t allow her to have sway with anything. Henry was a loving man, right from when she could first remember, all the way up to the day before he died. He had changed slightly but she didn’t pay any attention, focusing on her engineering classes to help him out build the creations he loved.

Until William showed up.

There were a lot of things Charlotte didn’t like, and one of the bigger ones was her own uncle. William had this…aura about him that she never liked. He loved children and younger adults, so much so that he and her father had started a company together, but split after an argument about how their creations should act around the children. Henry had wanted them out of reach so that young ones wouldn’t hurt themselves by accidentally getting their fingers into joints or teeth; William wanted them to be among the crowd, playing with the kids and holding them as if the animatronics were actual characters. Both were valid points, but both couldn’t work in the same restaurant…

A knock on her door sounded and she glanced at the clock on her wall: 2241 on Friday night.

“William, I know it’s you.”

The door opened and revealed a slightly happier David, his usual smile creeping along his face as he looked between Charlotte and the Fredbear suit, “Hello, niece.”


	54. A Last Goodbye

Charlotte sat at her desk and kept her eyes on the man she called ‘uncle’, watching him take a seat in front of her, “Aren’t you supposed to be watching the building cameras?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be at home?” He countered quickly, taking another glance around her office.

“Normally, I am. I was just finishing up some work that I assigned to myself, and was about to head home when you knocked on the door.” Charlotte rubbed her forehead, feeling a slight ache in her lower back that signaled she had definitely been sitting for too long. She wasn’t too old, but the fact that her uncle sat in front of her looking 30 years younger didn’t make her feel any better about her youthful age.

“Let’s talk about my…promotion.” William/David crossed his legs and folded his hands over the knee, settling in for a long talk.

“How many times have I told you? You’re not taking over papa’s work. In fact, you’re staying far away from it.” Charlotte leaned back into her chair, readying for a verbal battle.

“No, you see…I’m actually quite fond of Chamille B. and Frederick G. as security officers. Let me…”

“I said no, William.” She cut him off, “They are not under my employment, only contracted through Bremont Security.”

“And how about my ‘request’?”

“About you becoming the new general manager for the restaurant opening next week? No.” Charlotte huffed, folding her arms across her chest as if to scold the older man, “William, you’re not sticking your fingers into papa’s business. You’ve already messed up your own by having the animatronics walk about, and I will not have you drag my father’s name deeper into the mud by re-joining. That’s my final answer.”

David frowned deeply, his skin stretching like rubber as the creases in his face flattened and scrunched in different places, “That’s sad to hear, being cast out of the family business like it was never mine to begin with.”

“It wasn’t. You know that you’re ultimately the cause of papa’s death in Utah.”

“Oh, child. That wasn’t me!” He feigned shock as he lay a hand over his chest, taking in a deep breath, “The courts found me innocent, and the police were only able to find a knife at the scene with no fingerprints.”

“The more I look at you, the more I wish Fredbear could move about.” Charlotte resisted the urge to stroke the restored golden fur on the suit next to her desk, “Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?”

“No, not really. Have you drawn out your will yet?”

“You’re not listed anywhere. As far as my family knows, you died a long time ago in a freak accident in a factory surrounded by your killer things.” The woman nearly growled. She shouldn’t have agreed to bring this man back into her life when he was homeless, starving, and jobless.

“The family…yes, your family.” He nodded knowingly, as if expecting to hear that, “I hope that they continue to treat you well.” David stood up and brushed off his pants, turning to put his hand on the door and leaving quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update 05/29


	55. Hiding in Plain Sight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND we're back. Thank you for your patience!

After a tense moment of silence settled in the room, Charlotte took a deep breath and stretched out her fingers to brush against Fredbear’s fur. In her mind’s eye, she could see him standing up and offering his arm to her as he did in the past when her father’s workshop was still fully active. Even as a teenager, she couldn’t believe that her father was simply...gone. Vanished without much of a trace to follow, so his missing profile went cold until his dead body was found rotting in his secondary home with a knife that had been missing from his pocket toolkit.

Stroking the fur even more, she lost herself in her memories until she was surrounded by her father’s work, dancing and singing around her. Charlotte had known about the incidents that had happened with her uncle’s restaurants, and when someone had dug up the old story, she felt like she needed to buy it up before someone sniffed out what had happened. Scott Cawthon was a nice man in her eyes and understood the need for secrecy about what happened. She was thankful that he had twisted and turned the story on its head, creating an entertaining game series for people to enjoy; a bleak moment of joy in a time of desolation.

Charlotte took another deep breath and closed her eyes, pausing on her nervous habit of stroking the golden fur. She had worried that the fur would’ve rubbed off by now, but the new fiber had proved itself to be very reliable.

“Sorry, Freddie dear. I’ll get going and leave you to your time here. Lord knows that you need to keep an eye on this place while I’m gone.” She pushed herself out of her chair and shuffled out of the door, removing her car keys form her pocket.

\---

Chamille opened her eyes to the white room again, covering them momentarily with her left arm. She was in a sitting position this time and she blinked as her eyes adjusted, slowly getting up and moving her arm away from her eyes. The shadowy figure from before stood with its back towards her, both of its arms in front of its body.

“Hello? Why am I here again?”

‘you are here because i’m losing’

“Losing?”

‘a battle long waged’ it turned towards her to reveal its full form, ‘it is my turn to ask the questions’

“Okay...?”

‘why did you not warn those whose lives were lost’ 

“I don’t understand. I was supposed to warn someone? I thought you gave those as a warning to me.” Chamille shook her head slightly.

‘do you fear me’

She thought for a little while, “No...compared to the big one, you seem nicer.”

‘nicer is not a word to describe me’ It raised both of its hands to hold up a mask in front of its face, complete with two purple stripes running down underneath the eyes and two rosy cheeks.

“The Puppet...?! I thought you were gone after that first time!” Chamille waved towards the white-out camera monitors behind it, provoking them to life with the camera feed that Freddy saw while she was inside Charlotte’s office the first time, its static body covering hers. The Puppet didn’t turn around to acknowledge it but only nodded.

‘i hid in you’

Chamille stopped, her mind trying to think of anything else other than where her mind wanted to go, “Well...stop that.”


	56. A Fate Decided

‘i cannot do that’ The Puppet shook it’s head sadly before putting the mask down and into its body, ’i am unable due to the threat that now hangs over’

Chamille waited patiently for it to finish the sentence, but it never did. She slightly rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, “I kinda understand how Kris feels now...What is the threat? Am I able to stop it?”

‘no’ came the curt reply. It moved from the mock setup of the camera controls and headed towards the door leading to where the offices would be, raising a hand to point at an object beyond the door, ‘it is not your fight, and you have been less than helpful with the earlier clashes’

She dropped her arms, her eyebrows creasing as she glared at the Puppet, “Hey. You can’t blame all of that on me. You’re the one that doesn’t know how to answer a question very well!”

The shadowy body bristled and seemed to gather itself, becoming taller and wheeling around on her as it put the mask back on, the silver eyes locking onto hers and holding her paralyzed with its gaze. It stopped partially in front of her, the smoky tendrils wrapping around her feet and keeping her in place as the main body leaned in close. The whispers turned into a harsh tone, carrying weight and fury with each word it spoke.

‘you are nothing to me, you have not done anything useful for me, and you are no one special’

The words echoed in her head, twisting and turning themselves into her father’s voice as they snaked deeper into her mind. She forced herself to stare back into the mask and fought an internal battle to keep her tears inside. The Puppet was not him; he wasn’t here and he couldn’t harm her again. After a few moments, she took a deep breath as her eyes closed before letting out the breath silently. When her eyes opened again, she glared at it.

“Tell me what you want me to do.”

The grin on the mask seemed to widen.

\---

Freddy saw Chamille pull into the parking lot and they walked in together as they had the previous days that week. He noticed that she was a little more ridged than normal, but passed it off as nothing important. There were a few power outages here and there, but they didn’t last very long and none of them were in the command center, so Freddy only marked down the times and locations. Charlotte had been notified and the electric company was to be coming out in the next few days to make sure that it wasn’t something faulty in their grid system.

During these power flickers, Chamille had seemed to become tired but recovered quickly enough afterwards. Freddy didn’t think much of it, thinking that she may not have gotten enough sleep and the brownouts were enough to trigger her sleepy state. He offered to buy her an energy drink from the office vending machine, but she refused and thanked him for his concern.

\---

David fumed from his car as a small shadowy orb moved in his hand.

“The FUCK do you mean it got stronger?!”

The orb jiggled around a little, but didn’t say anything. David was tempted to just squish the thing in his palm, but knew that it wouldn’t do anything. He rubbed his cheek and pulled a little on the beard forming on his chin.

“Are you sure it’s using someone in the building...?”

The orb formed a small lump-like head and nodded, David smiling in satisfaction.

“We best get rid of her, then.”


	57. The Fifth Night

Saturday greeted Chamille with a near empty parking lot. As she pulled into the employee’s small lot, she noticed a definite lack of truck tractors and trailers laying about, along with little to no visitor cars in the adjacent lot. A small sinking feeling in her stomach began to form but she pushed it aside as she climbed out of her sedan and entered the building a few minutes before her shift started. Silence greeted her ears as Chamille walked towards the security office, reaching her hand out to turn the knob.

The leaning visage of David greeted her as the door swung wide. He was leaning over the camera console and scrolling through various angles before he peeled his eyes away from the screen and locked gazes with Chamille, a chill running down her spine as the cloudy green turned to a sharp jade and the corners of his mouth turned upwards in a smile.

“Hello, Chamille. I’m Freddy’s relief tonight as he’s out sick with a serious stomach flu, it seems.” David stood up and made no move to get closer to her. Chamille’s eyes narrowed as the itching at the back of her head intensified. She didn’t answer to his excuse as she checked her phone and saw the text that confirmed what he said.

‘Chamille, stay strong. I’m stuck in bed and had to call in. Please be safe.’ was the text from Freddy’s phone about 4 minutes ago, when she arrived on site. Chamille silently cursed herself for not checking the damn phone when she didn’t see his truck. Sucking in a deep breath of air between tight lips, she locks eyes with David again.

“What do you want with me?” She didn’t move from her position in the doorframe.

“I don’t want anything with you, or about you for that matter.” David waved his left hand as if to brush away something offensive that she said. He moved from the command console towards the corner desk, breaking the eye contact, “I just want a peaceful shift to happen in this warehouse. No more power outages or flickers, no more hostility between us...” He sat down smoothly and looked back into her eyes, “No more conflict in general.”

“In order for that to happen, I want an apology.” She closed the door behind her as she took her spot next to the console, but didn’t sit down.

“For what?”

“For you being creepy in general...and for asking those questions while I was in Charlotte’s office.”

“Ah...yes, those. I apologize for the brashness of that conversation, but I can’t apologize for ‘being creepy’ in general. You see, I’ve always had that air about me.” David closes his eyes and pulls out his phone, opening the jade daggers and focusing on it.

“Not always, William Afton.” Chamille clenched her fist as she growled at the man now frozen in place in the corner desk. The air became heavy with a thick madness that threatened to choke the air out of her lungs as the man stood up straight and glared back down at her, his usual smile gone and the eyes swirling between jade and a Brunswick green color. She tried to breath through her nose, but it was overpowered by a coppery scent.

“Interesting. You’re very interesting, Chamille. You’re not like the other female security guards that I’ve worked with. You have a mind that’s…always thinking.”

Chamille ran out of the office. Fear spurred her feet onwards and she panicked as an eerie laughter echoed from behind her. She found herself pounding on the door to Charlotte’s office, but no one answered. Finding it unlocked, Chamille opened it wide and bit back a scream as she saw Charlotte’s body leaning over the desk with blood pooling underneath her arms, her head laying on top of them. Without thinking, Chamille ducked into the office and scurried behind the Fredbear, out of the camera’s eye.

“Fuck...fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck...” She breathed heavily and tried to muffle her pants, her heart now accelerating with additional adrenaline. Patting down her pockets, she swore as she remembered leaving her purse and phone in the office with William. No contact with Freddy...no contact with the outside world. After a few moments, she gripped the Fredbear suit tightly on the back.

“Hey...you talk, right? I heard you speaking with Charlotte while I was on shift...” Her voice didn’t sound like her own, Chamille’s throat tight.

‘no it was me’ The Puppet’s quiet words spoke into her mind.

“I’m guessing you can’t move this like a body, can you?”

‘once but not now’

“Right...losing battle with dingus out there.” Fuck. She had no options to scare the man away from the security office, and without her phone, she was stuck in here as a prisoner. Chamille sucked in a breath as the power died, dowsing the room in darkness and silence. Digging her fingers into the short golden fur, she suddenly wished that children did posses the animatronics to come to her aid but knew that it couldn’t happen. None of these animatronics had been used to kill children or stuff their bodies into suits, at least as far as she knew.

“Chamille. You’re going to lose this little fight.” William’s voice came right outside the office door, left open by the panicking young woman, “I’ll be honest, though...you’ll be more fun to kill than those other two.”

“You’re the one that killed them?!” Chamille shouted in shock, horrified at herself for giving away her position. Instantly clamping her hand over her mouth in response, she knew that she practically sealed her fate as the door opened further.

“Not physically, but yes. Killed by my order.” William was clearly in the room now. Chamille tried to calm down and figure out what to do, to find a way out. She couldn’t fit into the air duct grate near her foot, and she wasn’t fast enough to evade while escaping the room through the door.

“Puppet, take what you need and do what you want.” Chamille whispered.

\---

William looked at the Fredbear suit, knowing that Chamille was just behind it. He took a step forward before being thrown back out of the office and into the opposing wall by a shadowy force. His eyes traced the extended arm to a mask he never thought he’d see again.

“Very well...” He bit his bottom lip and spit the blood onto his right hand, “I invoke thee. Kill.” The dark splotch bubbled and formed a living darkness next to him, reaching up to the ceiling and forced to stoop low to fit. The darkness grinned widely and grabbed the arm, shredding it and forcing it to let go of William, who remained standing there by the wall.

The darkness charged at the shadow figure with the mask and both forces collided in Charlotte’s room, tangling up and unwrapping themselves as hisses and mechanical screams were heard. The Puppet clawed its way out of the mess and raced out of the office, heading towards the warehouse but closely followed by the darkness.

William pulled out his security red flashlight and turned it on, quickly sweeping over behind the Fredbear suit but finding it empty. He growled and looked around for clues about where Chamille might’ve gone in the clash.

\---

Once again, she blinked quickly to try and adjust her eyes to the darkness of the building, sucking in deep breaths to fight off losing conciousness. Chamille had scrambled out thanks to the Puppet’s gentle guidance but now was dumped somewhere she didn’t recognize in her mind’s eye. She pressed her hands against the wall and ran them against the material, feeling metal under her fingertips. Warehouse; she was in the warehouse. It’s the only place in the building with a metallic surface on the walls. Taking in another deep breath, she held it and looked out as she moved around a corner. There was sunlight on the floor of the warehouse, thanks to the windows right near the ceiling.

She saw that the warehouse was mostly empty with only a few suits from FNAF and DaR’s left. Candy’s had all shipped out that week with no new ones coming in. Chamille took another breath and looked about herself, ducking behind a pillar as two swirls of darkness and shadow clashed together overhead and vaulted around the wide open area.

\---

William didn’t give his neice’s dead body a second glance as he slammed the door behind him. Chamille wasn’t in the room, so that only left the security office and the warehouse that she could hide in. He moved back to the security office and saw that her affects were still in the same place on the central desk, smirking as he looked up at the camera monitor wall.

\---

Chamille slid down the pillar in exhaustion. The price to pay for the Puppet was steep, and she kept reminding herself that no one forced her to agree to anything. Her heart beat furiously against her sternum, violently reminding her that her body wasn’t built to sustain a supernatural force. It didn’t ask for her soul, only for her lifeforce; her blood. It was similar to a blood transfusion, the Puppet explained, it would take her blood’s energy and convert it into usable energy for him.

She would die a young old woman if she survived this conflict.

Her heart pounded furiously, filled with adrenaline and fear, forcing her body to deplete its stored energy. Chamille swore silently as she sat against the pillar. All she had to do was stay away from William and his...creature...She thought hard about what she thought she saw. Blood was definitely involved in summoning that thing, her mind reeling through her video game knowledge before snapping to her board game knowledge. This thing was essentially a living curse, or it certainly acted like it. If that was true...then she needed to find William and take him out while battling her own timer.

She stood up and turned towards the door only to see William leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed and her phone in his hand.

\---

“You’re looking tired, sweetheart. Need me to call the police for you?” He held up her phone to his ear, making a mock call.

“You’re an asshat, you know...” Chamille scoffed and took a step back. The screeches and screams coming from the shadowy fight faded in and out as the battle moved throughout the warehouse.

“There’s an easy way, and a hard way.”

“Isn’t there always?”

“You can call off the Puppet, and I won’t hurt you too much...or you continue this charade and I’ll hurt you slowly.” He waved the phone and watched as her eyes followed its movement.

“That’s not a win for me either way.”

“You’re the one that ran first.”

\---

Chamille bit her tongue, watching her phone as he waved it around. She had no choice in her mind, and she opened her mouth to respond but was stopped short as her mind went blank, her heart thudding heavily in her chest. She was running out of time, she needed to kill him fast and without Freddy to help defend her.

“William, I just have one question.”

His lip curled in irritation, “What?”

“How many kids have you killed?”

\---

William wasn’t expecting that kind of question at this kind of time. He expected her to plead for her to live, for him to leave her alone. He knew how far she and that bastard dug into his history, into the game’s history. He wasn’t bothered too much by the internet theories about it, and would deal with them if he found where they were. Chamille and Frederick just happened to work for his niece.

“None.” He grinned inwardly as he watched her face fall, disbelief written all over it, “How many did you think I killed?” He took a step forward and threw her phone on the ground hard, shattering the screen and popping the battery out of the phone case. Her disbelief turned into horror as he made his way closer, “You’re useless, Chamille. You were okay at being a security guard, but you fell asleep constantly on shift and Charlotte doesn’t tolerate that. As your senior, your repremand falls to me.”

Chamille glared up at him as he made his way over, the shadowy battle drawing nearer towards the two of them. She only had one chance to do this. When William was only a few steps away, she shoved her left hand into the conflict of darkness that drew just as near. Her body was pulled into the large cloud, and vanished from sight to a horrified William. The Puppet grabbed ahold of her and vanished from the fight only taking a severe swing before they disappeared.

\---

William shouted and screamed as his prey vanished without a trace, only leaving the swirling darkness behind before it seemed to swell and approach him.

“You’ve failed me. I’m cancelling our contract.” He muttered as the darkness drew to his side, pressing itself onto his right arm. Searing pain entered his shoulder as a loud crunching sound was heard throughout the warehouse. He screamed as his eyes snapped to the darkness next to him, realizing that the command from earlier was still issued. The pain increased as the darkness moved from his arm towards his neck, the swirling thing starting to envelope his entire body.

“Stop...I command you to di-” William’s strained voice was drowned out by his own screams before the living darkness swallowed his head, a large pop and crackling echoing the quiet building. The darkness continued to eat away at William’s body until nothing was left. It swirled up onto itself and vanished as well, leaving no trace of the human being called William Afton.

\---

The Puppet looked down upon the body at its feet before moving to the generator and turning it back on, revealing the building again to the nonexistant occupants. It didn’t speak but only gave a curt nod before vanishing, leaving Chamille’s corpse behind with her extended hand propped on the power switch, giving the appearance of her turning on the generator before dying.


	58. Epilogue - The Sixth Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay...so I redid the last paragraph which is no longer available in chapter 57. I gave these characters life and they need closure, dammit. I may turn this into a small series, depending on how far my brain can stretch for ideas. Thank you all for joining me in this rollercoaster of emotion and plot things, and accept my apologizes for the lame excuse for an ending if you read it before I took it down. My readers deserve better.
> 
> Happy hunting, all!

Freddy and Amy stared in horror at the broken man before them, clutching the autopsy report in his hands and failing to keep the tears in. Kris had called Freddy’s phone and claimed that he wanted to speak with them in person, saying it was very important that he should tell them the news face to face. Freddy never imagined that it would be about Chamille’s death.

Amy left the front sitting area momentarily to bring back a glass filled with ice water and a full box of tissues, leaving both objects in front of the man with no shame. Kris hiccupped and grabbed a few tissues, releasing his death grip on the reports and laying them on the sitting table between them. Freddy held his breath as he shakily reached for them. This couldn’t be real, he just saw her alive and breathing a few days ago at work.

‘Who is the Deceased?’ was typed out in bold font under the pathologist’s name and date, hovering over Chamille’s facts; her full name was clearly printed as well as her age, sex, and address. No phone number was jotted down, so he could only guess that they pulled the phone numbers they needed from her work file at Bremont Security. He had never seen an autopsy report while on the field; that was left to the medical team to hastily do while in combat or more thoroughly when the body was brought back to the base.

“I just don’t understand...” Kris managed between sobs, his unoccupied hands clutching his head while his elbows propped it up on his knees, “She was healthy! The only things wrong with her were the diseases floating around her body because of her family’s DNA! She was supposed...she was supposed to say yes...” The cries came back harder than ever, cutting off his speech and leaving the man broken. Amy moved over to his loveseat across from the couch and held him with her arm around his shoulder. Kris didn’t push her away, but didn’t move closer.

“I’m sure she would’ve said yes.” Amy’s voice cracked as she tried to console him. She was used to machines that said ‘yes’ or ‘fix me, I’m broken’, not people that had difficult emotions, but she still tried anyway. Freddy looked between the two of them, his face hardened and his mind crumbling. He hesitantly gave back the report to Kris, who took it like a lifeline, crumpling up the paper even more.

“She would’ve said ‘yes’, Kris. Do you still have the ring?” Freddy gathered himself and sat back down on the couch after grabbing himself a glass of water. Kris nodded furiously, no longer in full control of his body, and Freddy smiled a little as he continued, “You can bury it with her.”

“I...I think I’ll put it in her ashes. She didn’t have a living will, but I remember her saying that she wanted to be cremated.” He laughed a little, as if remembering a memory, “She wanted me to mix some of her ashes with gunpowder and make bullets with them, so she could protect me after she died.”

“Sounds like something she’d say. Chamille never stopped talking about you, Kris, and she did it with a smile.” Freddy bit the inside of his cheek, it wasn’t the complete truth but she did always smile when Kris came up in their conversations. Kris smiled and blew his nose into a Kleenex, looking back at the papers.

“Your job wasn’t that taxing, right?”

“What? No. We’d get a little jumpy because of the brownouts that happened frequently, but not...nothing that lead to sudden cardiac death.” Freddy narrowed his eyes a little. That part of the autopsy stuck out like a sore thumb to him. A sudden acceleration of the heart that was caused by malfunctioning electrical signals from the brain, leading to a high fatality rate...but only seen in ages 30-40 in men and women. It was rarely seen in 20-somethings, especially females.

”...” Amy locked eyes with Freddy, and he snapped out of his thoughts. She shook her head as if to confirm what he was thinking. She turned her attention back to Kris and took her arm off of his shoulder, “Kris, let me give you my number since you already have Fred’s.” Freddy groaned, he hated that nickname.

Kris nodded and accepted the number, typing it into his phone. After a few moments of silence, he stood up and excused himself, saying that he needed to request time off from work and meet with her parents since they would know by now what happened. Amy followed him out and waved goodbye as she watched him drive off of their property. Closing the door, she turned to Freddy in the same motion with an expectant look on her face.

“Mind filling me in on something you just thought of?”

“It doesn’t make sense. I mean, SCD isn’t that rare in the US, but what he said was right. She seemed perfectly healthy outside of family diseases that wouldn’t kick in until she was older.” Freddy cleared the sitting table, his mind working overtime.

“But it can happen. Are you sure you’re not in shock? I mean...you did just lose your partner.” Amy moved to put her hand on his back in support. Freddy didn’t move away, and he could only shake his head.

“This isn’t shock. Surprise more than anything else. Wait...” Freddy’s head snapped up, his eyes locked onto something in the distance, “waitwaitwait...FUCK!”

The outburst was so loud and unexpected that Amy flinched away, her eyes darting up and down Freddy’s body to see if anything had hit him.

“That BASTARD! I had called off that night she was...she died! I bet that David was the one who relieved my shift....fuck...” Freddy had taken a step towards his cellphone on the sitting table, but instantly went down to a knee, his breathing shaky. Amy closed her eyes and let out a silent breath, knowing what he had thought of.

“You calling off did not kill her.”

“Amy, it doesn’t fit any other way.” Freddy was now fully sitting on the floor, his face in his hands as if to hide from the world, “I was feeling perfectly fine until I stepped foot outside our home...and then suddenly I’m on the ground dryheaving and wracked with pain! It doesn’t make sense...” He tried to think back to a few days ago, about what he saw or heard or ate that day. There was nothing out of the ordinary...except for when he opened the door. Freddy could’ve sworn he saw, for a brief moment, something writhing in front of the front door. After that, he blinked and stepped outside, ending up on the ground in violent pain.

“I promise I wasn’t trying to kill you with that dinner.” Amy stated after a moment of silence. Freddy could only chuckle.

“I know you wouldn’t. You’d try a more discreet way.”

“Yep...now come on, soldier, off the ground and into the workout area downstairs. Punch out that aggression and sadness like it’s the Al-Qaeda.” She helped him downstairs and after he started his own version of therapy, Amy frowned as she retrieved a large water bottle to fill it up. Freddy wasn’t going to slip over that edge as long as she was around, but she knew that Chamille was...Amy slapped both of her hands hard on her cheeks after setting down the bottle on the counter.

‘Now is not the time to be jealous over your husband’s dead co-worker. He’s not slipping into PTSD, and he’s reacting normally to the emotions he’s feeling.’ With another hard slap for good measure, Amy shook her head to clear away the unwanted thoughts and headed downstairs to find her soldier completely enthralled by the boxing bag, throwing heavy enough hits to knock out a person if he hit the head.

\---

A month later, a small group of people gathered outside of a funeral home dressed in black. Kris was there, as were his parents and Chamille’s parents, her cousins, her grandparents, and her aunts and uncles. Frederick and Amy Georgey arrived a few minutes later as the family was filing into the building, melding into the back with Kris. Amy had brought lilac flowers from her little garden and Freddy seemed to adjust his tie every few seconds, clearly uncomfortable with the wear but trying to bear with it.

The funeral director had informed them that it would take about 2 hours for the process to complete, most of that time being a cooling period for the ashes, and had asked if the family wanted anything sealed in the cremation jar after the process was done. Kris spoke up and handed her the engagement ring, a simple silver ring that was pleated with snake or dragon scales. Chamille’s oldest cousin, only a few weeks younger than her, went over and put his hand on Kris’ shoulder, silently congratulating him. The director nodded in response to the object and disappeared behind heavy doors.

The wait seemed to crawl on, with a few family members talking with Freddy about his presence there but not in a condemning way. Kris explained that he wanted them there, since they were good friends with Chamille, and Chamille’s stepfather nodded in appreciation. Freddy instantly recognized the dress blues of the Navy and snapped to attention. The military man was a little surprised but eased him out of the salute, and Freddy joked that if he remembered her stepfather served in the Navy, he would’ve shown up in his Marine dress blues. That seemed to ease tensions between the two men, meeting because of a single young woman.

At the 2 hour mark, the director came out with 2 containers; the official sealed cremation jar given to her parents, and a sealed plastic box given to Kris. The family said their prayers over the cremation jar before leaving the building. Firm handshakes were given to Kris and to Freddy while Amy recieved the hugs. As they regrouped outside and watched Chamille’s family leave one by one, Freddy put his hand on Kris’ shoulder.

“Want me to make those bullets for you?”

“Yeah, if you wouldn’t mind.” He chuckled a little, but it sounded forced. They turned towards their cars and saw an unidentified vehicle pull up next to Freddy’s red truck. A nice, prestine black Jaguar SUV stopped in the parking space and a man stepped out in a black suit, looking about before settling on Freddy, Amy, and Kris. His right hand slicked back his styled brown hair while close the driver door with his left. Freddy bristled and stepped in front of Amy a little as the man approached, while Kris clung to the ash box.

“Are you Frederick and Kristopher?” He held out his left hand to shake but only Freddy reached out to complete the contact, grasping it firmly.

“Call me Freddy.” His friendly voice didn’t seem to reach his eyes, memorizing every detail he could find about this person.

“I just want to apologize on behalf of my family about what happened to Chamille Branvo. My cousin, Charlotte, forwarded me everything that happened at her factory. I run the business side of her restaurants in Utah and Colorado, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza and Doug and Rachel’s. It’s unfortunate what happened there, with your co-worker’s death and my father’s disappearance.”

Freddy's eyes widened and he sucked a breath in, but made no other move to continue the conversation. The man smiled a little, a shadow of David in his eyes before giving a bow.

"It's my hope that you keep in contact with me. Charlie has said many nice things about you, Frederick. I would like to offer you a position if you'd be willing to relocate." He straightened up and brushed his right hand through his hair again, the wind rustling it a little on the clear day as a cloud covered the sun for a moment. In that sunless space of time, Freddy could have sworn that the jade eyes of David were smiling at him through this man's face.

"No, unfortunately. Relocation for my family is not possible." Frederick Georgey spoke with a finality that cut off a deal before it could even be spoken of.

"Fair play. A family bond comes first before business." The man smiled and waved his left hand as he walked back towards his SUV, climbing into it and watching them for a brief second before leaving, the sun finally shining down on Freddy as the vehicle drove away.


End file.
